The Windmills Of Your Mind
by Roz
Summary: Obi-Wan's memory is wiped and then he is sold as a slave. Will Qui-Gon find him and will Obi-Wan remember who his master is? do you really care, or are you just here for the obi-toture and qui-angst? FINISHED!
1. Round like a circle in a spiral

Ok, for a start. These are the warnings. I've only read a JA book once and it was when I was in about yr8 and I'm in yr11 now and even then I only skim-read it. So, I can't remember most of the details and I apologize now for any wrong details. Minor or major. This is incredibly AU so if you don't like that sort of stuff, keep on moving. Also, I'll try to skim over the Obi-toture (sorry guys) 

**Disclaimer: ** Blah, blah, blah, I don't own anything. Ewan McGregor is my boyfriend, no seriously(actually I take that back, I don't really like him….), along with Aragorn (when he was 16) and Legolas (when he is 1000000000, which he is now…..) Oh, and Daniel Johnson (Silverchair hottie) and Hayden Kristinsen (guy looks like he needs sleep badly) and that REALLY hot singer from Good Charlotte :P HAHAHAHA, sorry, couldn't help myself.

**Summary:** Obi-Wan's memory is wiped and then he is sold as a slave. Will Qui-Gon find him and will Obi-Wan remember who his master is? (do you really care, or are you just here for the obi-toture and qui-angst?)

**Genre:** Whatever you reckon you can see in it! How about Angst?

**Rating:** XXX (yeah, this is going to be full of steamy stuff, NOT!)

**Real rating:** PG-13 

**Feedback:** Any of you girls disagree the relationship with my boyfriends, email me or deaththreat me at aeterno_estel@hotmail.com, please please please give me feedback.

***** 

_Round, like a circle in a spiral_

Like a wheel within a wheel.

Never ending or beginning,

On an ever spinning wheel

Like a snowball down a mountain

Or a carnival balloon

Like a carousel that's turning

Running rings around the moon

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

Obi-Wan opened his eyes and winced. It hurt. Everything hurt. Well, the boy who used to know he was Obi-Wan rolled over.

(Who AM I?) he thought once more before passing out.

[Obi Wan! WHERE are you??] Qui-Gon cried out silently through their bond. Silence. He couldn't even feel anything. But the boy wasn't dead. He couldn't be dead. He couldn't. Qui-Gon sighed. Everything had gone wrong. 

"I should've been there. Where are you???" he sighed as he went back to meditation. The events and thoughts of the last month ran through his mind, unbidden and unwanted. He tried to force them back into this subconscious but they just wouldn't stay there. Time and time again his trance was broken as he remembered Obi-Wan's final call through their bond.

[Master! Master! MASTER!] The first one level, the second one frantic and panic-stricken, the third one screamed, full of pain. Then the worst part.

[Qui-Gon. Where are you?] Murmured softly, full of anguish and pain and resigned. Resigned to his fate. It didn't need to be said but just under those words, hidden beneath, in a veiled meaning was the inflection, [Why aren't you here?]

Qui-Gon grimaced. "Why? Why the hell did they take you?" Everything had gone wrong. Absolutely everything. They had gone down to the planet just to sort out the problems, just as Jedi should, but things had to go wrong. They had become separated, and Obi-Wan, his padawan, had been captured. By the time that Qui-Gon had been told about Obi-Wan the boy's memory had been erased.

Erased. Obliterated. Stolen. Snatched. Eradicated. Wiped out. Annihilated.

That was where the trail had gone cold. After they had wiped the boy's mind they had dropped him in the middle of nowhere, with no memory and no defence. The boy couldn't even use the force, he didn't know how. And this made finding him a lot more harder.

Qui-Gon sighed once again and went back to meditating, concentrating, trying to detect his padawan's life signature amongst the galaxy. Nothing.

[Wait padawan, I'll find you] he called once more through their bond, his voice echoing into nothingness.

**** 

Obi-Wan opened his eyes to a voice yelling in his ear.

"Slave 456! You will get up NOW! Your punishment is over and now you will get back to your station. If you try to run again, I promise I won't be so light on you" the man grinned evilly while fingering his whip.

(Get up, get up, get up!) Obi-wan's mind screamed at him but the boy couldn't move. Everything hurt too much and for some reason his defiance hadn't been completely beaten out of him. . He gave the guard a baleful glare and just as he started to get up, something knocked him to the floor. (What the….?) the boy's mind couldn't grasp the concept of just being hit and his body was too numb to even register it.

"You slave," the guard spat out the word, as if it wasn't even worth being uttered, "How DARE you even look at me. You're a worthless piece of shit." With that the guard gave the boy a hard kick in the stomach then waited until the boy had finished retching. "Get out there and start working and don't even think about looking at anyone." He sneered as the boy tried to drag himself away. He gave Obi a quick kick on his way out of the door and walked away muttering.

Obi-Wan pulled his knees up to his chest and tried to stop his gasping. (Why does everything have it in for _me_??) He staggered to his feet, and weaved his way unsteadily to his work station.

Nobody even gave the battered boy another glance. He was just another slave. Slave 456. A slave. That's all that Obi-Wan could remember. Waking up in some strange place, being captured, being beaten, being sold and being a slave. (456. That's who I am. I am a slave, a piece of meat to be passed around and beaten) Obi-Wan's shoulders sank a little lower.

"Hey! 456!" Obi looked around to where the voice had been hissed and sighed in relief as he saw Billy.

"Hey Billy" Obi-Wan replied a little raggedly, his breathing coming shallow. "What are you doing?" Billy was alright. She too was a slave, but hey! Who wasn't? Obi-Wan had met her as soon as he had been bought, they had been in the 'sale' together. She was around 19, human, heavily maternal when it came to him, too skinny, too bony but beautiful. She had dark brown hair that faded to almost blond at the bottom. She had dark eyes and copper skin. The way that some of the guards looked at her made Obi-Wan glad that he was a boy. Her safeguard against that was being filthy. She absolutely stunk, but it kept the guards away

"What did they do to you?" Billy sucked in her breath, "Bastards. I told you not to run. But did you listen?? No, of course not. You had to act all defiant and rebellious and look where it's gotten you……"

"I just won't submit to their, their, brainwashing!! If they try to force you to be something that you're not then who are-----" Obi-Wan stopped realizing where he'd dug himself into (Well, that's your problem. You don't even know who you are to start with. Billy calls you 456 cause you don't even know your name). It hurt.

"Aw, sorry to have asked." She knew how much it hurt him to not know himself. " So, what did they do to you? I've got some stuff that I could put on that" Billy gently put her hand on Obi's shoulders frowning when he winced under her touch, "C'mon, then after we can get back to work"

"What about the guards? They'll be expecting me" Obi-Wan protested weakly but Billy brushed his worries aside and ruffled his hair, "Don't worry, you know how lazy they are. They won't know that you've been released until about 2 hours later. Plenty of time."

Obi allowed himself to be led back down the hall to a dormitory. "They sent the Juanks out after me" he shuddered at the memory of being hunted by the red-eyed beings, "I wasn't concentrating and they unconsciously herded me back to where I started. I panicked. They caught me. After roughing me up a bit outside the house they took me inside and 're-educated' me. That's all there is to it. Although now, apparently I have a transmitter beacon, a pain-inflector and a terminator inside me. You know, the usual." Obi-Wan laughed bitterly wondering where the idea of 'normality' came from. "They waited till I was unconscious to plant them, I'm guessing so that I can't find where they are and dig them out" the boy shrugged. "Next time, I'll make it"

"There won't be a next time!" Billy was shocked. "Next time they'll kill you or worse"

"I'd rather be dead then working here. This is a living hell!"

"456, listen to me. If you try again, they won't spare you. If they do, it will be just so that you can watch someone else suffer. Do you understand what I'm telling you? 456, do you realize? I don't want to see you die!" Billy shook the boy rather roughly only realizing what she was doing when he stiffened under her touch. "Sorry 456, but tell me, PROMISE me that you won't do it!"

Obi-Wan muttered under his breath.

"What? You can't try again! Do you understand what they could do to you? They could re-sell you, feed you to the Juanks, toture you slowly, or worse" she shivered involuntary. But then switched her glare back onto the boy who wasn't meeting her eyes, "456. Please, listen to what I say. You don't want to end up like the boys I see, broken, defeated, no longer innocent." She put her fingers under the boys chin and forced him to look into her eyes. The eyes she stared into made her flinch inside. They were sea-green, with an undercurrent of determination swirling in their depths. Although slightly clouded with pain they were sharp, alert and irreversibly sad. Billy came to a decision.

"You're not going to promise me are you?" The words were merely a whisper.

"No". Such a simple mono-syllable, but meaning so much. The consequences attached to such a word were enormous.

"I thought so", Billy sighed, "Fine, I will help you."

Obi-Wan looked panic-stricken and stuttered, "B-but you're a girl! If they catch you, t-t-they'll take advantage of you, the 'deodorant' won't protect you. You can't do it Billy, I don't think I could live with it if, if—"

Billy laughed breaking the tension, "Do you think I haven't thought of that before? Do you think I've never been faced with that situation before? Don't worry, I can hold my own. You don't seem to realize that just because you're boy that's not going to stop them. There are some sick perverts in the world out there 456."

Obi-Wan blinked (No, that actually hadn't occurred to me) "But still Billy I can't condone you helping me, think of the trouble that you'll get into to."

"Listen to yourself! Wasn't I the one saying this to you just a couple of seconds ago? Look, I think we both realize the risks now. We're not stupid, no matter what the masters think……." Billy suddenly grinned, "Maybe we can finally find out what I should call you! 456 sounds slightly harsh. Now come on, let me dress these cuts or else we'll both get reprimanded for being late for duties" And with that, the conversation about escape was closed.

**** 

_ Well, i hope you liked the first part. This is a really really **really** long story. I might have to do it in parts. Um, please review. Tell me how much you hate it and how much you hate long stories! Also this is my first time working with HTML and i really suck at it, so please forgive me if things don't turn out right. Thanks. _


	2. Like a wheel within a wheel

**Refer to Ch1 for full disclaimer and address to send hatemail to**

**** 

_Like a clock whose hands are sweeping_

Past the minutes on it's face

And the world is like an apple

Whirling silently in space

Like the circles that you find

In the windmills of your mind

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

They were walking back down the corridor to their workstations and Billy couldn't help looking at the boy walking in front of her. Straight body, proud head, still slightly bloodstained despite her best efforts. (If he was a couple of years older he would be very nice to look at) Billy stifled a grin. Although, even at the age of 13 he looked good. Slim, muscular, only slightly scarred now. Her grin disappeared. His beating had been severe. If that is what the guard called being 'light' she dreaded to think what being 'stern' would be. Many of his cuts on his back had been deep and the bruising widespread. Hopefully none would become infected, the salve she had put on him had cost her about a week of her rations but she believed that it had been put to good use.

She remembered when she had first seen him. She had been just sold to a slave-lord and when she had stopped panicking to take in her situation she had noticed the boy standing next to her. What surprised her most about him was his shape. He was in good shape. Not sporting that thin, starved body that most slaves had but while not fat, he looked lean, fit and above all, looked after.

(Maybe someone took a liking to this one and decided they wanted him healthy for uh, rigorous activity. No, he's too young. Way too young for something that disgusting.) Her mind rebelled against a thought that horrible, but he looked so down, so sad that nothing else came to her mind. The poor boy looked almost broken so she decided there and then to take him under her wing.

"Hi. I'm Billy, who are you?" the words were soft just so that the boy could hear them. She could hardly hear his reply, so ragged and softly spoken was the answer.

"I don't know".

It had gone on from there. Needless to say he fetched a good price, being looked over like an animal. Good teeth, good body, good muscles, no scarring. The only reason he didn't fight the prodding and pinching was that the poor boy seemed to be in shock. His eyes were glazed and he moved funnily, like a zombie or somebody just remembering how to walk and what to do with life. The man that had bought the boy, took her as well because she also was strong, lean and _pretty._. She bared her teeth at the memory.

It had been 2 months since they had moved into the factory. The boy had grown more talkative and she found out that he truly had no idea who he was. So she called him 456, due to the tattoo crudely burned on his arm/shoulder. His slave number. Day by day, he had grown more determined, more resolute about finding his identity and escaping. The guards weren't too bad considering some that she had had previously but for some reason they just had something against the boy. (Maybe because they can see he's still wild and it gives them great pleasure to break a wild animal and tame it) she thought. It wasn't anything too great but just the little things. Rations cut in half for him, breaks non-existent and absolutely no slacking off allowed. Physically they had worn him down, he had become thinner, bonier, skinnier and totally exhausted. Mentally he grew stronger. After several weeks his body got used to almost no food and no sleep and he worked well when needed. But gone was the lean, well-fed image of the boy she had known 2 months before. 

He had gotten it into his head that he was going to escape. For some reason they had not given him any 'safeguards' against such an attempt, probably because they thought he was too young for such a thought. Needless to say, he had proved them wrong. And now he had one just like everyone else. (Fantastic) Billy rolled her eyes. (Stubborn little brat). She had thought that he was only talking and wasn't actually going to attempt an escape. She thought he was all talk. She had been wrong. 2 days ago he had streaked. And had been unsuccessful. The wounds she had just dressed were testimony to that. But his resolve to leave hadn't been broken.

"Stubborn little **_brat!_**" She muttered the words vehemently. 

Obi-Wan turned slightly, he had heard her say something, "What? What did you say Billy?"

Billy grinned mischievously, "Nothing _brat_".

**** 

Qui-Gon sighed. Still nothing. It was like the boy had him purposefully blocked. This wasn't getting him anywhere. He got up and stretched, his long slim fingers nearly touching the ceiling. He had to do something. It had been nearly 2 ½ months and there had been absolutely no contact. 

"Damn!" he cursed and resignedly made his way to the long-distance transmitter. He pressed several buttons and a vision appeared shimmering in the air.

"Mace here" the ghostly apparition spoke.

"Mace, it's Qui-Gon here."

"Hey! How's the contact been going?"

"That's the problem. It's not. It's like the boy has got extremely tight walls around him. It's like he's shielding from me. I can't even detect his life-force. At all Mace!"

"Maybe he's become one with the force Qui-Gon"

" 'Become One with the Force' my _arse_. Don't you try to persuade me with that line. If he has died then I would've felt it, being the closest to him"

"But you can't even find his life-force. How do you know that he isn't dead?"

**"Goddammit!"** Qui-Gon cursed in several languages for leaving himself so open, "Because! Because! Just because……" his voice grew quiet.

"Ok, ok" Mace held out his hands in a gesture of peace, "Lets just not consider that possibility. If he is still alive what is the point of you being on that planet? It's highly unlikely that he'd still be on-world there, especially if you haven't seen or heard from him and you've been there for nearly 3 months."

"I think I know that", Qui-Gon ground out between his teeth in a dangerously low voice.

"Personally, I think that you should come back to the temple, and then think up a plan from there. Maybe even Master Yoda will have some ideas"

"Mace?" The voice was quiet.

"Yes Qui-Gon?" Mace realizing that his friend was having emotional conflicts asked gently.

"Do you think that Obi-Wan is still alive?"

The question surprised the councilman. Doubt from the ice-master himself? Several answers flitted through his mind and he dispelled the mushy, condoling answers (The man is a Jedi, he must know the truth) in favor of the cold, hard facts. 3 months of no contact. No force signature available. No sign of the boy. Nothing. 

"The probability is slim. Slim but possible." It was the best answer he could come up with. True but still offering hope. (Aeterno Estel – Eternal Hope, it's all I can offer. That and pity but he is too proud to accept pity.)

"I thought so" the voice was so sad that Mace looked deeply at the figure in the hologram in front of him. The drooping shoulders, the bags under the eyes, the slack body posture – total exhaustion shown in every line of his body.

"He might still be alive. Why don't you try to get some sleep?" Mace tried to raise his friends spirits.

"Yeah. Whatever" and with that the connection went dead.

Mace was deeply disturbed as he returned to his previous business – paperwork. (Where are you boy?)

**** 

**I know that Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan and Mace are horribly out of character, so email me and tell me how much I suck!! (hangs head ashamedly) I know i'm not good at writing in character - i apologize)**

**** 


	3. Never ending or beginning

**** 

** Hey everyone!! Or to those who actually want to listen........(crickets can be heard chirping in the silence)......ok, then. Hi to me!!! Ok. This isn't really working is it? Fine, next part of the story.....**

** Full disclaimer on ch1**

Oh, i almost forgot. 

Heidi:** The words Aeterno Estel are actually half latin half elvish. Hehehe. Estel is elvish for hope (according to Tolkien). If you've ever seen Lord Of The Rings, that was Aragorn's name when he was younger. Hope.**

**** 

_Like a tunnel that you follow_

To a tunnel of it's own

Down a hollow to a cavern

Where the sun has never shone

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

Obi-Wan looked up from his work - stacking crates and unloading the pallets. His back ached, actually, he just ached all over. But his back hurt the worst. Everytime he breathed his back felt like it had red-hot fire leaping all over it and his ribs felt like they were shoving knives into his lungs.

He wiped his hand over his face and brushed his sandy-colored hair back over his shoulder. (God, it's annoying!) Over the last 3 months it had grown long and he had just let it grow. It was naturally kept neat by a piece of rope that held it back from his face but at the moment it hung over his eyes, damp from his sweat. He paused and caught Billy's eyes. She was at the conveyer belt piecing together some sort of weapon.

They worked in an ammunitions factory. He unloaded the boxes and placed the parts on the belt, he was the muscle. Then the quick and nimble-fingered girls would let the fingers flit over the belt and snap bits of metal together, inserting crystals, adding screws, viewfinders, passing it through the lasers to fuse the wires together and putting down a semi-finished weapon back down on the conveyer belt. As far as the rank of importance went, he was the lowest of the low. All he did was move boxes around - admittedly some of them were so heavy that it took all his power and more but the girls were considered more important over him. They had the skill to put together a blaster in 10 seconds. He had the skill to move a box and empty it in 5 minutes. 

Obi-Wan grimaced imagining what the weapons were actually used for. It couldn't be good. Billy caught his glance and grinned back, momentarily stopping to make faces at him. Obi-Wan smiled in spite of himself. That girl just made him laugh when he was down. It was almost like she knew his feeling inside out. When he had been at the depth of his depression, she was there to keep urging him on. He stood a moment longer looking at her, (She's really pretty actually) The thought shocked him. He had never seen her in that light. Sure, she was pretty, most girls were, but she was quite breath-taking if you mentally scrubbed the dirt and grime off her and added some meat to her bones. 

(Fantastic figure, WHAT?? Stop thinking about it 456! She's your friend, like Bant..........hang on, who the _hell_ is _Bant_?? Where did that come from?) Obi-Wan didn't realize that his mouth was hanging open, until his eyes re-focused on Billy who was doing an over-exaggerated impersonation of him. She looked quite stupid, with her mouth hanging open, eyes wide and a shocked expression on her face. She then wriggled her eyebrows and rolled her eyes. Obi-Wan's smile turned to frown as a guard stepped up behind her and backhanded her across the back of her head. Obi-Wan started to move forward but a glance at Billy made him stop, her eyes were warning him to come no closer. Even though he was across the other side of the room he could quite clearly hear the screaming of the guard.

"What do you THINK you're DOING? You're paying no attention! I've been watching you, it's been almost 5 minutes and you haven't DONE anything! INSOLENT SLAVE! Don't you EVER slack off! You do this again and I'll leave you in the guardhouse for a night to let them teach you a lesson! Do you hear me girly? I'm sure they wouldn't mind a pretty piece of meat like you to keep them company on a cold night, do you understand?" Obi-Wan swallowed; he would kill this guard if he laid a finger on her.

"Yes", the word was merely a whisper, Obi-Wan could see that the threat had shaken the girl, she had turned pale and was trembling slightly. 

"What did you say?" The words were calm but dangerously monotone.

"Yes, SIR!" Louder this time, so that everyone could hear it, emphasis on the sir.

"Good. That's a good little slave. Now get back to work before I decide to take you myself........"he left the sentence hanging , grinned evilly and took a step back, still watching.

Billy got up from the ground, where the man had struck her down and her fingers began to flit once more over the belt, although Obi-Wan knew her enough to know that she was still shaken, it was just the stiffness in her shoulders that gave her away.

(One day......one day, I'm going to kill those guards) Obi-Wan thought darkly as he returned to work. He kept glancing up at her but she kept her eyes firmed glued to her work and that made him even more angry. Guards scaring her into submission, he would NEVER bow to them. NEVER! 

Hours passed and Obi-Wan's back ached incessantly. The hours seemed interminable but surely the light grew dim within the factory as the planet's twin suns began their descent. Billy hadn't looked at him since the incident, something that Obi-Wan could understand but couldn't understand. A siren sounded twice and Obi-Wan dropped the box he had been unloading in relief. The other slaves finished up, packed up their gear and started to file out to get the dinner rations before heading to bed. 

Obi-Wan finally caught Billy's eye as she lined up and he gave her a comforting smile, in return he received a wan smirk. He pointed to himself and made a series of complicated hand movements to mean that he would be out there shortly. The slaves had made their own silent communication system; it came in useful when there was a total talking ban. It had taken Obi-Wan 2 months to learn the basics of "What?" "When" and "GODDAMMIT" - or words to that effect. He smiled internally as Billy replied saying she'd wait outside for him, he replied to her saying, with several hand movements that made Billy grin, to save him some food. It had become a personal joke between them. When the guards had been at their worst, halving the boy's rations, Billy had taken to stealing extra food to feed him. Obi-Wan had been horrified when he had found out where the extra food was coming from and had made Billy promise never to do it again. She had agreed sullenly and that had been the end of it, or so he liked to think. 

Obi-Wan stacked his boxes back up, tidying up his work station and turned to leave but suddenly a hand clapped onto his shoulder. He winced at the sudden pressure and unconsciously looked up........

...............into his new master's face. The look of speculation that had been brooding there quickly changed to one of amazement and then horror then contempt. The boy couldn't help staring When the boy didn't turn his eyes away the man's face swiftly turned to anger and he hit the boy solidly in the face. The force of the blow took the boy by surprise, it spun him around and he ended up on the ground, dazed. 

"Haven't you taught your merchandise it's manners?" A voice was sneering, "You know, I might decide to not take this pitiful creature after all......."

The boy shook his head fuzzily (What did I do wrong?) He shakily regained his feet and wiped the trickle of blood that was slowly seeping from his nose. "I'm sorry if I offended you-" it was as far the boy got before the slave lord struck him in the back with the electrified staff. 

"Merchandise doesn't speak! Merchandise doesn't meet eyes. Slaves have no right to look someone in the eye like an equal. You are a slave boy, if we want to see your eyes we'll gouge them out and hang them up, got it?" The seller pushed his argument into the boy with several more blows to his unprotected ribs. He then turned back to his customer, "I'm sorry about that but he's only new. Found him wondering around like an idiot. Doesn't have any memory, couldn't even walk properly before I got to him. I'll bring down his selling price because of the damage that I've had to inflict on him, but I've taught him a lesson that he won't forget, will you slave?"

Obi-Wan had once more gotten to his feet and had indeed learnt his lesson. He kept his eyes firmly on the ground. He didn't even speak but just shook his head.

"You see? Still learning, just got to re-educate him you see? Now, let's see again. How much did you pay for him? I'll lower the price because of simplicity, and here is the girl that you also bided for, now isn't she a pretty creature?

The sale had gone quickly but it had all been a blur to the boy who was still trying to come to terms with the fact he had no memory, he was a slave and the new 'lessons' he was learning. He had never forgotten that lesson though, never, EVER look up.........

...............and quickly corrected his gaze, his lesson coming back to him. He stared at the ground impassively as the voice reached his ears, "Are you slave 456?"

Obi-Wan nodded mutely (No talking) he remembered.

"As part of your punishment you have been given another work assignment. You have been given the rest of this night to move all the boxes that have just been freighted. The boxes are currently outside and you have to move them inside, into Holding Bay 15. Understand?" The voice carried no emotion, no hint of sympathy.

After the first initial shock of this task in front of him he nodded silently. (Just you wait.......one day, I'll get those guards.......) The guard left noiselessly. Obi-Wan sighed and plodded out to the cargo doors and sure enough; there were the pallets, stacked high with packages that had to be taken inside. Just as the boy watched, his face drooping while analyzing how long it was going to take, the clouds opened up and it began to rain. It wasn't hard rain but just a drizzle, light enough to see through, heavy enough to be annoying. 

As Obi-Wan watched the guards retreating back a thought sprung into his mind and he started. He cursed silently and ran after the disappearing guard. A feeling of rebellion overtook him and as he tugged on the guards uniform. He looked up, past his eyes and spoke, "Would I be able to get my dinner rations first?"

The guard surveyed the battered boy in front of him without a flicker of sympathy. He took in the torn shirt, the bruised face, the swollen lip, the bloody clothes, the black eye and the ribs clearly showing through the skin. The thought of pity didn't even enter his mind. The boy was slave, that's all there was to it - who really cares about slaves? He had grown up with slaves all around him and although he didn't mistreat them he couldn't care less if there were mistreated. To him they were just like a piece of machinery, they weren't human, they were slaves. He consulted his data-pad and replied, "It doesn't say anything about not receiving them here, all you need to do is make sure that the boxes are in Holding Bay 15 by the next sun circle." The guard looked at his watch, "That means you have 8 hours", he said curtly and walked away.

**** 

**Any suggestions? Hurry it up?**

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	4. On an ever spinning wheel

**** 

** I realise that its a really long story but now that i've started it I can't exactly make it finish quickly, "And Obi-Wan killed all the guards, jumped over the fence, took Billy with him and found his master and lived happily ever......" Uhm, i'm afriad that while it can be done, it would make the story absolutely pathetic (which i guess would be a step up the ladder!) This story is scraping the bottom but i'm a stubborn person, and i won't stop till it's finished! So sue me! Please email all legal contracts to me email address located at the top of Ch1**

**** 

_Like a door that keeps revolving_

In a half forgotten dream

Or the ripples from a pebble 

Someone tosses in a stream.

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

Obi-wan didn't hestitate. He practically ran out of the processing plant and nearly bumped straight into Billy who was now, impatiently waiting.

"Where have you been???" She said exasperatedly, "I had almost given up on you!"

"Sorry, but I've been given a _special_ task to do", Obi-Wan rolled his eyes, "I have to move several pallets inside tonight, so you're going to be sleeping alone tonight......"he grimaced at the thought of spending the night in the rain outside. (This suxs)

"Ohhh" Billy frowned as the realization hit her, "They can't do that! How much damage will that do to your wounds?!?!"

Obi-Wan shrugged gently as they moved into the line and got their dinner, "It's not that bad. A couple of cuts, no big deal." He watched as the droid plopped something that looked watery, lumpy, greasy, half alive and utterly disgusting. The smell of it alone made his stomach churn. "What is this stuff??"

Billy answered wrinkling up her nose as the droid plopped some gruel on her plate as well, "It's some sort of new vitamin, mineral supplement gruel. Meant to give us what we need and absolutely no more."

"Well, I think that I'm going to try and find out if we need it at all" Obi-Wan held his plate at arm's length away, "Why can't we get something with sugar in it?" Obi-Wan blinked, "Hang on.......what's sugar?"

Billy just laughed at the puzzled expression on his face, "Stuff that tastes sweet, so sweet its like a jewel or something dissolved in your mouth. It's the most nicest thing in the world." Her expression turned thoughtful, "My old master used to give me sugar cubes sometimes, when he wasn't too busy beating me"

They went and sat down at one of the tables nearby. Obi-Wan sighed as he put down his plate and laid his head gently down on the cool metal of the tabletop. He didn't want to admit it but he felt pretty bad. His back ached like acid fire and he was just deadly tired. Coming straight out of the punishment into work had taken the toll on his young body. He took a deep breath and immediately regretted it as he ribs screamed. (Whoops, ok then, shallow breaths. Shallow breaths are good). 

Billy frowned as she watched the boy. He was obviously more tired and hurt then he let on. "456, are you ok?" She heard a non-committal grunt but ignored it. She scooted closer and carefully touched his back her frown deepening as the boy tensed under her touch. She blew across the cuts and grimaced as the boy groaned slightly and moved away. She could feel the heat radiating from his body - (This is not good). "I don't think you're well 456. I don't think that you should do that assignment."

(Really? Tell me something I _don't_ know) he thought sarcastically but actually said, "Nah, I'm fine. I'm just tired. Extremely tired, that's all. Just need a rest....." his voice trailed off as he relaxed and Billy didn't have the heart to push the issue any further. She watched over him silently as she ate her gruel and nearly 1/2 an hour passed before the boy showed any signs of life. He lifted his head off his arms and blearily looked at the girl sitting beside him, "Watcha.........whatsa......" Billy grinned, the boy had obviously fallen asleep. As she watched he visibly pulled himself together and tried again, "What's the time?"

Billy looked at the chronometer on the wall, "1/4 way through moon cycle". At hearing this Obi-Wan started and swung around to stare at the girl. "Are you being serious? Don't joke with me Billy."

"I'm not! I swear. It's a 1/4 through the moon cycle."

"_SHIT!_" Obi-Wan swore and quickly started shoveling the gruel into his mouth, horrible taste or no horrible taste. 

"What's the big rush? I thought you weren't going to eat that" Billy teased hiding her surprise at the boy's reaction.

"I've got to unload those pallets!"

"But you're in no condition to do that! You haven't recovered from the beating! You're almost dead on your feet!" Billy was horrified, they couldn't be serious about sending the boy to do that now.

"If I don't then it will only give them another reason to beat me! Right, see ya later Billy! You'll probably be asleep when I go to bed. Sweet dreams!" Obi-Wan almost yelled it as he dashed off leaving half his tea unfinished. 

Billy sighed and took up their plates and took them back over the droid. She handed them over and resignedly made her way to the dorms. (God help that child.......)

**** 

Obi-Wan paused from his work. It had been almost 3 hours and he was only 1/2 way through the task. He shivered and wrapped his arms around his chest in an effect to keep warm. In return the rain intensified changing from mist to a drizzle. It still wasn't heavy but it had become thicker making it harder to see. He opened up another box and made his way to Bay 15. It was quite interesting, he could plainly see where he had been walking - a wet path lead all the way from the cargo bay to Holding Bay 15. (I'm finding a wet path made by me from the last 3 hours of walking it - 'interesting'. Ok, I think I really am tired). He returned back to the cargo doors and paused, trying to massage some warmth back into his arms. As he watched the rain got harder, pounding into the ground. He sighed and stepped back out and lifted his face as the rain fell.........

..............all around him. Wet stuff was falling from the sky. Obi-Wan jumped, surprised by the sudden outburst of rain. He looked around, no one else seemed to be panicking. (What is this stuff?) He wondered. He cautiously put out his hand and watched in wonder as it filled with a clear, cool liquid. (So, its not so bad...) It was quite nice actually. It rinsed away the dirt, sweat and grime that covered his lithe body, making him feel cleaner, even newer. He spun slowly around, letting the rain envelope him in a wall, hiding the spectators from view. It was the best thing he had felt. It ran down his hair, down his face and traced it's way down his body. It felt so nice, so healing. It even smelt nice, he inhaled deeply and spread his arms wide. He flung his head back and let the rain gently massage his face. Unthinkingly he opened his mouth and immediately sweet, cool water filled it. The rain was.........

.............freezing. It was getting too damn cold out here. He shivered and quickly re-started on his task. At least the rain was cooling down his over-heated body, but it was late and he just HAD to finish off this task. (There is NO way that I'm going to allow them the pleasure of beating me again) he thought grimly and the rain fell even harder, hiding the exhausted boy from view.

**** 

**Hmmm (thinks) should i toture Obi-Wan?**

Thanks for the reviews guys! Love you all! I know I should go easy on myself but oh well......stuff happens

Keep reviewing _puh-lease!!_

**** 


	5. Like a snowball down a mountain

*** 

**I know it's boring sorry. But it's the longest thing i've written in my whole entire life!! Wow. And you know the strange thing? I don't even like Star Wars. In fact, i nearly fell asleep in the 2nd movie and the only reason i went was because Dad dragged me along (he's the fan). Oh well, i'm just a strange girl....**

Oh well, the show must go on (unless someones doused it with petrol and lit a match......not giving anyone ideas or anything). Enjoy! Or don't.

I'm sorry to all the toture fans out there! But there isn't really any toture in this fic (i think, i'm thinking it up as i go) but there is a beating in 2 chapters time! The actual breaking of Obi-Wan occurs in the 2nd part after his 2nd escape attempt! Understand? No? Oh well!

*** 

_Like a clock whose hands are sweeping_

Past the minutes on it's face

And the world is like an apple

Whirling silently in space

Like the circles that you find

In the windmills of your mind

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

*** 

Billy awoke and looked around. No sign of 456. (Where is that boy?) She climbed down from the bunk she had been sleeping and almost tripped over the boy lying on the ground. It was Obi-Wan. It looked like he had just dragged himself in and collapsed. Worried, she touched him lightly and was glad to see him stir beneath his touch. He also seemed a bit cooler today.

"456! 456, wake up!" She gently shook him and watched as he blearily opened his eyes. "What are you doing down here?"

"Huh?" He obviously wasn't awake enough yet. Billy sat back and gave it a few minutes to let him fully revive. "Billy?"

"Yeah, the one and the same" She grinned crookedly. "So what are you doing down here? Why didn't you come up to the bunk?"

"Oh. Well, I thought it was so late and I didn't want to wake you up. Besides, I was soaking wet and I didn't want to ruin the bed……." He trailed off and yawned widely, "So whats for breakfast?"

She grinned. (Always thinking about his stomach) "Dunno. So how much sleep did you get?"

"Whats the time?"

Billy looked around and took an educated guess, "Um, probably about 2 hours into the sun cycle." She looked at him attentively, "So, how much sleep did you get?"

"Uhm" he looked thoughtful, "2 hours in huh? Well, I'd say probably about 2 ½ hours."

Billy's jaw dropped. "Is that all???? Did you only just finish the stacking?"

"Yeah." Obi-Wan's stomach grumbled, "Look, can we get some breakfast? I'm starving."

Billy laughed, "Sure thing boy".

*** 

Students took one look at the grim expression on Qui-Gon's face and made sure that they were well out of the way when he passed. A couple of students were brave enough to offer the tall man words of condolence but when he turned his grey eyes onto their faces they shrunk back at the emotions swirling in their depths. As he turned the corner a group of students tried to peer further down the hall and watch the Master's retreating back. 

"What's his problem?"

"You know, his student…….."

"No, I don't know. What happened? What did his student do? It must have been pretty bad."

"No. His student went missing. He's been searching for him ever since."

"Really? How long ago? Who's his student?"

"About 3 months ago. You _don't know_ his student?????"

"Well, no. I haven't been here all that long and I'm always away on missions and stuff."

"Oh, ok. Well, have you heard of Kenobi?"

"As in Obi-Wan Kenobi? Hell, yeah! The guy is like a legend or something…….what's he got to do with anything?"

"He is the student."

"Oh. **_Shit._**"

*** 

Qui-Gon didn't hear any of this as he swept down the hall, his long legs eating up the distance to the Council Chambers. He didn't care what the council said. He didn't care if they forbid him to go searching for his Padawan. He would leave the Order. He **had** to find the boy. He owed to Obi-Wan, after leaving him to get his memory wiped, it was the least he could do. (He won't remember me) the thought stung the large man. 

He pushed open the large doors and walked in silently to stand before the council. He surveyed the faces in front of him to try and learn their thoughts from their expressions – to no avail. He, himself, made damn sure that he kept his face impassive. They wouldn't let him go if he threw a tantrum. 

"Missing you Padawan has been?" Yoda asked, his eyes traveling over the man standing before him.

"Yes Master Yoda". (You knew that! Why are you asking such stupid, meaningless questions???)

"Went missing on your last mission did he?"

"Yes Master Yoda." (Well, _duh_. Obviously. That's the reason he's not standing beside me). Qui-Gon tried his best to hide his impatience.

"Has had his memory wiped has he?" 

"Yes Master Yoda." (Oh, for force's sake!! You know all this – why are you asking me again???)

"Know where he is do you?"

"Yes Mast-----, I mean, no Master Yoda" (Damn! Listen Qui-Gon! Listen! The troll was playing you!)

Yoda's ears twitched as he felt the man's inner turmoil. Anger at himself, guilt at himself, anguish and despair on behalf of his student.

"Wish to search for him you do?"

"Yes Master Yoda." (Crunch time.) Qui-Gon sighed. (I'll bet he'll say something like, "Guides us the force does. Moves in mysterious ways it does. The feelings in the Force concerning your Padawan, confused and mixed they are. Listen to the Force we should"……blah blah blah)

"Guides us the force does. Moves in mysterious ways it does. The feelings in the Force concerning your Padawan, confused and mixed they are."

Qui-Gon visibly ground his teeth his irritation showing for a second. (I knew it. I hate being right all the time. Now he's going to say, "You can't go")

"You can go."

"But Master Yoda, I belie------" (hang on, did he just say what I think he said), "Excuse me Master?"

"Go and search for you Padawan you must. Although the feelings in the Force are confused, search for you Padawan they scream. Go now Master Jinn. May the force be with you."

"And also with you." Qui-Gon bowed shakily and tried to keep his dignity as he walked out of the room. (I can go! I'm going to find you Obi-Wan!! Hang on just a little bit longer!)

*** 

** Now wasn't that touching? Sorry but i really really _really_ suck at writing proper angst.**

Thanks for all the reviews!!! I wonder if i'll pass my Lord Of the Rings fic? (It should!!) Thanks again people!! It's people like you that make it worthwhile writing!

*** 


	6. Or a carnival balloon

**** 

**For full disclaimer, refer to ch1**

_Remnants_: The poem thing that i've been doing, I didn't make it up! It's an old song (you probably already know this) and it was the theme song for the 'Thomas Crown Affair', it's a really nice song and i recommend listening to it. I heard a group sing it and it almost made me cry and I decided there and then that i was going to use it in a story....didn't realise that i'd use it here....Also, i don't think Obi-Wan is going to go over to the Dark side, he doesn't even know it exists at the mo....

_Aflak_: I was thinking about giving Obi-Wan a name but i've read too many fics where it goes, "I'll call you....." and i'm like, "Gee, i wonder, don't tell me, ohhhh! i know, you'll call him Ben [sarcastic like]" and i thought that being called by a number would drill in his position further. No name, no identity, no self-respect.

_Mydogisfudge [nice name...]_: I know it's strange that i'm writing about it since i hate it so, but ever since i read Cassie's fics (read them, they're fabolous!!!) i got stuck into reading young Obi fics and i guess it kinda rubbed off. But when I watched TPM everytime they pulled out their lightsabers and tried to look all serious i just cracked up laughing everytime. Dad wasn't impressed!! Besides i like writing....

_GoldenRose:_ Sure thing Yoda!

**** 

_Keys that jingle in your pocket_

Words that jangle your head

Why did summer go so quickly 

Was it something that I said?

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

Obi-Wan sighed. He hated being by himself and this job had to suck the most. He looked around taking in his surroundings. He was in the storeroom, stacking up the shelves. As he took out the junk metal and put them in their appropriate boxes his mind wandered away and he did his chores with automatic fingers and glazed eyes. He did feel slightly better today but he could tell that something wasn't right with his body. It was still too hot. He sweated aimlessly but the sweat trickling down his back did nothing to make him feel any better. Despite the coolness of the rain, he was afraid that it had made him worse. Getting sick was not a simple thing in this factory. The last time he had seen someone fall ill a couple of days later he hadn't seen him again. His body trembled violently and he cursed inwardly. (I do NOT need to get sick…..i will _NOT_ get SICK!!!) By sheer force he managed to get his body under control and he hid his anger at his weakness by forcefully throwing the metal parts into their prospective bins. (Dammit, I do not want Billy getting all maternal on me _again_).

Obi-Wan's frown deepened as he thought about Billy's overprotective obsession. He did not need her to be fussing all over him as if he was a little kid. No thank you. Admittedly she did look out for him and she was a fabulous friend but when it came to him and his freedom she tended to be stifling. She sounded exactly what parents would sound like…….

…………..parents? 

"Yeah. Who were your parents?"

"Parents? What are they?"

"You don't know what parents are?"

Silence, then a small whisper, "No."

Billy sighed and gently put her arms around the boy. At first he stiffened underneath her touch giving rise to her suspicions about the boy's previous owners but slowly he gently relaxed into her embrace. She rocked him softly, feeling his confusion with the world around him. They were inside some holding cell, made especially for transporting slaves. As the boy pulled himself gently out of her arms the chains that tied her ankle to the wall clinked and she pulled on it irritably.

(To not know your parents, to not even know what parents are. This child has been deprived) She thought as she looked at the form beside her. He looked so small and insecure that her paternal instincts flared up and she had a sudden urge to shelter him from all and any harm. Instead she sidled closer to him and began explaining in her nicest voice she could muster.

"Parents are the people that made you. They look----"

"How?"

"After----what?"

"How did they make me?"

Billy's face flared a deep red. "Uhm, by a process called sex."

"What's sex?" He just couldn't stop asking questions. Everything seemed so new to him, yet it also seemed old. Like he could see the grey outline of the ideas but it wasn't clear. Like he had dreamed up all the answers in a dream and had now forgotten them.

"It doesn't matter!" Billy snapped just a tad too curtly and immediately regretted it when the look of sorrow flashed over the boy's face. He looked down and mumbled, "I'm sorry, it's just that…..i don't know anything……at all, and I should!" He was getting angry at himself now, "Why don't I know anything???"

Billy could have kicked herself for being so inconsiderate. "Look 456. It's not your fault, you couldn't stop what happened to you. It's my fault for snapping at you anyway. Just forget about sex for a moment. Parents are the people that look after you when you're a baby. They love you unconditionally and they don't get mad if you stuff up. They are always there for you to support and help you when you're going through a hard time."

"Then why aren't they here now?"

Billy sighed, "Because when we reach a certain age we leave home to go make a life for ourselves and maybe make a family with someone else dear to us."

"And that's where sex comes in right?" Billy grinned. Just like every other male she had met, 456 shared the universal obsession with sex. (What is it with guys about that issue?)

"Yes, that's where sex comes in 456. Look, can we stop talking about that though?"

"Why?"

"Because we just don't."

"Ok then. But if parents are so wonderful and loving why would you want to leave them?"

"Because when you reach a certain age you don't want to be stifled and suffocated, no matter how well meaning their love is. Everything they do just ends up grating on your nerves and although you love them, you have to leave them. It's the way the universe works."

"Ohhhh. So parents can be……….."

…………….annoying. That;s what Billy's attitude was. Annoying. Although well-meaning and friendly it did tend to get annoying. He grimaced and kept going with his job. (This really really _really_ sucks).

**** 

Qui-Gon paused. He couldn't bear to watch this. He was at a slave market, out searching for his padawan and the sights and sounds that met his eyes were disgusting and gruesome. Walking skeletons were being sold, beaten and killed. In actual fact though, he hadn't seen anyone murdered but he could see the evidence of it. The sickly, sweet smell of rotting flesh had invaded his senses when he walked through the gates into the selling arena. When he had flashed his eyes over the place to work out the origin of such a rank smell he had been horrified at what he had seen. Bodies were hanging from ropes, heads impaled on spikes surrounded the bidding stage and black birds flew squawking to the cages where decomposing corpses were rotting inside. Apparently it seemed that the slaves that weren't sold of were 'disposed' of here. Qui-Gon fervently hoped that Obi-Wan hadn't been one of them. (Although, he was in good health and has good muscle definition so he probably sold) the thought although comforting sickened the big Jedi. 

Qui-Gon couldn't help staring at the sight in front of him. It was so cruel, inhuman and despicable that he didn't believe that it could be happening in front of him. A older, deep-set man was beating a thing on the ground with a heavy staff. The man was screaming and although the thing was cowering on the ground beneath his feet he didn't relent in his beating. The harsh screams of the unfortunate creature echoed out through the arena but no one paid any attention to it – screams and shrieks were an everyday occurrence at the slave-markets.

Qui-Gon clamped his jaw and strode quickly over to the man's table. This was sickening, he was going to stop it. If he didn't the man would beat the thing to death. As he walked over his foot splashed in something and unconsciously he looked down and stared in horror. He withdrew his foot and put it down gently on the pavement beside him, leaving a bloody footprint on the pavers. He had stepped in a pool of blood. His eyes followed the stream that connected and stopped on the thing being beaten. A sense of urgency surrounded him and he nearly ran the rest of the way to the man. 

(Diplomacy is going out the window) "You will stop beating that slave" Qui-Gon gave the man a Force-suggestion with the flick of his wrist.

"Oh, I will, will I? Hey Mister, why don't I make you a deal, you buy him and I'll stop beating him." The man gave the tall Jedi a toothless grin and prodded the heap on the ground with his foot. 

Qui-Gon frowned as he heard a moan issue from the thing. He had come up against a wall with the man's mind, his mind was too strong for him to enter without him noticing. Most slavers had strong natural shields just to block out the emotions that they felt. (Ok, plan B)

"Why were you beating him?"

"Because he is an impudent slave." The man tried to think of a good bargaining strategy, "He will give you great pleasure when you finally break him."

Qui-Gon had to mentally stop himself from punching the man. Instead he said in an oily voice, "Really? That does give me great pleasure. To finally see them broken and pleading when they used to think they were so……..equal." He laughed maniacally while thinking (If I wasn't a Jedi and sworn to peace I would kill this man). What he was saying sickened him but he had to stay in character. "How much?"

"2000 credits."

"He is not worth even a ¼ of that. Look at the damage inflicted, he is damaged goods. 1000"

"1500"

"1250"

"Deal!! He's all yours mister!" The man handed over the slaves chain and folder containing his 'resume' of past work and offences. "Get up you lazy oaf!" He gave the mound a kick and was about to deliver another when Qui-Gon's glare stopped him.

"Do you mind? I'm going to take my slave home to break him myself. I like to think that it was all _my_ handiwork. It fills me with a great sense of satisfaction. If you touch him again I will not take him……."

"Uh, sure thing mister!" Qui-Gon handed over the credits and the seller spun around and went back to checking his merchandise. Qui-Gon noticed that he limped heavily using the staff as a walking stick, its wood shiny with blood.

Qui-Gon turned back to his newly bought 'slave' and crouched down beside it. 

"Can you walk?" All he got in return was a groan. Scowling at the man's back Qui-Gon ran his hands gently over the slaves body trying to check out his injuries. 

"Bruising, broken ribs, small internal bleeding, not so bad considering, seems all the blood came from flesh wounds," he muttered to himself while assessing the slave. With great care he tenderly picked up the slave and carried him out of the arena back onto his ship. 

He laid the body on a bed and started tending to it. It was so dirty he couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl. Long, matted hair trailed down it's bloody back, all tangled into a single rat's tail. The whole body of the slave was a dusty brown, the parts where it wasn't bloody or raw. Dirt and dust covered it in a thick layer. While Qui-Gon was washing it's wounds he couldn't help thinking, "Is Obi-Wan like this?" and, "What am I going to do with this slave?".

He hit a sore spot and the slave moved slightly, groaned and opened it's eyes. They were glazed and dulled with pain. They alighted on the Jedi Master's face and it opened it's cracked and parched lips and uttered a single word that caused Qui-Gon's heart to freeze.

"Master?"

_(Obi-Wan?!?!)_

**** 

** I'm going to be away for about a week, starting Monday. I"m getting on a bus for a 7 hour road trip to drive 700km into the city (i live in rural Australia, as in, _rural_ Australia, so i'm thinking should i leave you with this cliff-hanger or should i put in the Obi-Toture in the next chapter? Majority of reviews win, if i get none, you're left with this cliffhanger!! [Fan: That's blackmail!!] [Roz: I know!! *maniac laugh*] So review away!!**

Do you realise that i've written 24 pages so far? It seems really long in Word but on ff.net, it seems short actually....


	7. Like a carousel thats turning

**** 

**Ok, wow! Roz looks on in disbelief **[ You have 11 new messages]** All reviews!! Thanks guys!! And I will keep my promise, therefore here is the chapter that you've all been waiting for.**

It includes OBI-TOTURE!!! Well, it's not heavy, just a beating.....

Enjoy!

**** 

_Lovers walking along the shore, _

Leave their footprints in the sand

Was the sound of distant drumming 

Just the fingers of your hand

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

Obi-Wan stopped stacking the shelves for a minute, his ears straining. (I thought I heard something). He spun around trying to surprise his attacker. (Nothing!) He glanced around the storeroom from side to side but nothing moved. (I could have sworn that I heard something!). As he watched he heard it again. It was like a scratching sound, a sort of twitching in the shelves. He relaxed slightly, it sounded only like a rodent or something. (Good one 456. All you need is a rat and it scares the shit out of you). He laughed hysterically and turned back to his box. As soon as he bent down something shoved him hard in the back and he went sprawling on the floor. As he hit the concrete floor his chin slammed into the floor first, shattering some of his teeth. As he sat up slowly, his head was spinning and his mouth was full of liquid. (What the hell? What happened?) he looked up slowly lest his head decide to fall off. 

The guards sneered at the boy lying dazed on the ground. He was the youngest one there, therefore the funnest to pick on. 

"Hey slave~! What are you doing on the ground, shouldn't you be working?"

"Yeah, slave scum!" The guards laughed, being led on by their friends.

Obi-Wan just stared up at them, the idea of fear not even crossing his mind – he was too stunned with what had just happened. He tried to speak and almost choked on the blood sloshing around in his mouth. With difficulty he spat it out onto the floor. The guards just looked on and snickered. 

"Look at the mess you've made slave!"

"Stupid slave! Clean it up! Clean it up NOW!"

Obi-Wan couldn't hear them, his ears were ringing. The faces were not focusing properly in his sight. His mind was whirling, he dimly thought, (The knock onto the floor must've been pretty hard). The guards couldn't believe the 'insolence' that the boy was showing. 

"Lick it up asshole!"

"If you don't, then we're going to have to make you do it" one of them growled and raised his eyebrows at his comrades. They laughed cruelly and crowded in around the confused boy. 

Obi-Wan was suddenly overcome with a sense of panic as the boots came closer and he started thrashing around. They closed in around him, creating a black, impenetratable wall. Obi-Wan felt claustrophobic, having just come out of his punishment. In a detached way he heard someone shrieking and realized with a shock that it was him but before he could stop himself a hand clamped down over his mouth and a voice whispered cruelly, "Now, you're going to clean up the mess dipshit and not say a word".

Before he realized what he was doing he had sunk what was left of his teeth into the man's hand and was rewarding with a yelp of pain and a punch that snapped his head back and left him even more dazed. 

"You little shit!" The man snarled sucking on his bleeding fingers, "You're going to pay for that! Gag him! That way the overseers won't know what's happening." The other guards grinned amongst themselves, and one of the roughly grabbed Obi-Wan by the hair and stuffed a rag into his mouth and then bound it in place by wrapping another rag around his head. 

Obi-Wan's waning composure snapped and he forced himself off the ground. For one glorious second he could see the door, outlined by the light then his legs were kicked out from underneath him and someone was holding him down. He felt the first couple of blows and tried to cry out but all that came out was a gurgled croak. They knew about his previous beating and went for his tender spots. 

Obi-Wan didn't realize that such pain could exist. He gasped but pretty soon his vision was fading, yellow spots were dancing in front of him and the world slowly lost it's colour until it consisted of only gray, white and red. Dimly he realized that the red was from his own blood that was running down his face, into his eyes. 

He was suffocating, he couldn't breathe. Something was wrong with his nose, there was liquid in it and he there was no way he could breathe through his mouth. The whole time that the beating was going on he could faintly hear the men laughing at his jerks and spasms.

"Look at this! If I hit just here……..look! See how much anguish that causes him!!"

"Stupid slave, if I was the overseer I'd cut his bloody hand off just for biting mine. Call it corporal punishment!"

"Hahahaha! You know we should do this more often! It's not like they're going to notice one less slave!"

With one last gasp, Obi-Wan's vision faded from grey to a dark brown to black and the boy lay still. The guards stopped; it was no fun flogging a dead horse.

"You think he's dead?"

"Who really cares?"

"Oh well, he has a bigger mess to lick up now, slave scum."

And with that the guards laughingly ungagged the boy and left him lying in his own pool of blood.

**** 

For a second, Qui-Gon's heart actually stopped beating and he temporarily stopped breathing. 

"Obi-Wan?" He didn't dare speak the word any louder for fear that reality might shatter. When the boy didn't say anything he asked again, "Obi-Wan? Is that you?" The thing gave a sigh and closed it's eyes. As it's form went limp Qui-Gon became almost frantic, "Obi-Wan? Obi-Wan!!" No answer. Qui-Gon cursed, got a cloth and anxiously started to clean the slaves face. As it's features became more distinguished, his heart began sinking.

For a start, 'it' was a 'he'. He was about 7 years older then his padawan and it obviously wasn't Obi-Wan. He tried to hide his disappointment but he couldn't help feeling despair after being so close to achieving his goal, he had almost touched the glow of hope.

The boy stirred beneath his hands and muttered, "Don't." There was a pause then, "Please……..stop……I…..sorry! Please! Sorry!! Stop!! Please!! PLEASE!! _STOP_!!!" then the boy started convulsing, throwing his arms out and knocking over the basin of water that Qui-Gon hand been tending the boy with. It clattered onto the ground spilling it's liquid contents over the floor. Qui-Gon was shocked by the sudden turn of events and his mind mentally shut down as his eyes stared at the pool of red water slowly tracing it's way across the medical ward floor. Then just as quickly as his mind had left, it rushed back into him and he cursed as he tried to hold the boy down to stop him from hurting himself. 

"Calm down! Shhh, shhhh. It's going to be ok. Nothing is going to hurt you. Calm down, rest. Shhhh", Qui-Gon made soothing noises while holding the stricken boy down. He opened his eyes and Qui-Gon gasped. They were the same as Obi-Wans. (Blue and green and grey with flecks of blue), except these ones were wide in distress and glazed, opened but unseeing, the user still locked in a nightmare. Suddenly, the boy's body arched and his eyes rolled into the back of his head, only showing the whites, then it was over. He was still once more. 

Qui-Gon quickly ran his hands over the body to check if the spasms had caused anymore damage and sighed in relief when his force-search turned up negative. The boys' breathing was shallow and ragged, his heartbeat faint and erratic but was there never the less. He placed his hands on the boys head and sent a force-command of sleep, while calming down his mind. He watched closely as the tension left the boy's muscles and his face went from a terrified expression to one of deep sleep. 

He swept his eye over the boy once again, and when he didn't move, the big Jedi was satisfied that everything was under control. He stood up from the stool he had been sitting on and bent down to pick up the basin. As he bent down he realized that the front of his tunic was soaked and as he scooped up the basin he glanced down at his shirt. To no surprise it was covered in a rosy colored liquid, the basin had hit him on the front of his tunic on its journey to the floor. 

He went over to the tap and refilled the basin. As the basin filled he looked at himself in the mirror. Grey eyes looked back at him, straight hair tied back, proud chin and firm face. The only thing that marred the image in front of him was the worry lines around his eyes, the sag of his cheeks, the bags under his eyes. The eyes themselves were bloodshot and watery. Crows feet lined the corners of his eyes and the face itself was pale and pinched. The image in front of him looked like a wreck. Qui-Gon, the interminable, cold, ice, impassive-faced, precisely dressed master looked like he had been hit by a speeder. 

(Maybe I could start a fashion trend – the 'I-need-coffee-badly-and-sleep-and-chill-pills-look') Qui-Gon thought wryly. He started as the cold water poured over the edge of the basin and onto his bare hand. (What have I been doing? Concentrate!! A man needs your help……..even if it isn't Obi-Wan.) His eye caught the reflection of the body lying on the bed behind him and he sighed in disappointment, his hopes had been dashed. 

He went back to the boy and carefully undressed him, peeling back the material where it had been embedded into the flesh. The pain would've been great and although the boy was deeply unconscious he whimpered several times and shuddered constantly. Qui-Gon was cleaning the wounds of the beating when he noticed the scar tissue. It was old and criss-crossed the boys back in several places. It looked layered and some of the cuts had raised when healing. Qui-Gon pursed his lips and his eyes became grim. The boy had been thrashed badly several times. He traced a cut with a finger that ran from the boy's right hand shoulder, across his back down onto his left hip. The cut had been deep he could tell. It would have been a close thing to cutting nerves in his invertebrate. If that had've happened then the boy would either be a paraplegic, quadriplegic or dead. 

"Unbelievable, people that can do this are animals. How can they do this?!?" he muttered vehemently while cleaning. With all the dirt out of the cuts he smeared healing bacta on them, and covered them with clean, white bandages. He went back over to the sink and was washing his hands when he stopped and stared at the boy. 

He looked remarkably like Obi-Wan. It obviously wasn't him, wrong age, wrong hair colour, wrong build but the wrongness was slight. If Qui-Gon didn't know Obi-Wan it could be possible to accidentally think this slave to be him. Being all trussed up in bandages didn't help – he had seen Obi-Wan so many times in the healing ward covered in bandages that it just added to the illusion. The slave had darker hair, was taller, his face contours were different – his eyes closer together, nose flatter, and ears poked out slightly but if seen far away there was no doubt in Qui-Gon's mind that he would mistake this boy to be his Obi-Wan. The sight of this slave, looking so much like Obi-Wan, sleeping peacefully in his ship made his heart constrict. (Why did I have to burdened with you? Why couldn't I get Obi-Wan?) Even as he thought these thoughts Qui-Gon knew that he was being selfish and inconsiderate. If he hadn't have bought him, he would have certainly died. 

Qui-Gon exhaled exasperatedly and started cleaning up. 

**** ****

Ok, now was that worth waiting for? No? Didn't think so, i'm not really all that bloodthirsty (actually i am, i just can't write it!).

Well, i'm off. I'll see you guys in a week! There might be a delay because this was the last chapter that i had done up so i'll have to write quickly huh?

Don't forget to keep on reviewing!

Oh, and guess what! I passed my LotR story. This officially is the most reviews i've ever recieved!

THANKYOU EVERYONE!


	8. Running rings around the moon

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** Well, i'm back and the monitor is working again....so life's looking up! I'm on holidays so i'll be finisishing this story when i get the time. The updates might appear a bit slower because i've come to the end of my stockpile of already-typed-out-chapters and i'm doing them on the run now.**

So enjoy this next chapter, I made it extra (well, not really) long just for you guys!

**** 

_Pictures hanging in a hallway_

And a fragment of this song

Half remembered names and faces 

But to whom do they belong

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

It was about 2 hours later that the boy started showing signs of life. Qui-Gon had been reading the map and several towns were circled to where the big auctions were held. He heard the groan from his cabin and went straight into the medical ward. His charge was trying to wake up, his eyes fluttering, his breathing becoming laboured. Qui-Gon had no doubt that the boy would be in great pain when he fully awoke so he went to the cupboard and was shuffling through it, trying to locate the painkillers when he heard the whimpering.

Startled, he turned around and say the boy staring at him in fear, the blankets wrapped around his frail body, his eyes just above the seam, trying to hide in the white material. Qui-Gon made a move to walk over and stopped when the boy tried to withdraw into the wall, his eyes showing white. 

"It's ok, I'm a friend. I won't hurt you…."Qui-Gon tried to calm the boy, he held his hands out, palm upwards to show that he had no weapon and stepped forward slowly. The boy stared back, transfixed by fear. He pressed himself further back and whispered, "Are you my new master?"

Qui-Gon bit back his anger at the slave-lord, having scarred this boy so physically and mentally. "No. You are no longer a slave. Yes, I bought you but you are free to go your own way." When the boy didn't say anything Qui-Gon tried to continue the conversation, "What's your name?"

"910"

Qui-Gon blinked (That's his name?), "Is that your name?"

"Yes," a whisper, the boy wasn't meeting his eyes. 

"Your parents called you that?"

"It is my slave number."

"No, what is your name?"

"Name, slave number!! Does it matter???? It doesn't matter what I'm called, my right of having a name, having an identity was wrenched away from me when I _became_ a slave!!" The boy stopped suddenly and when he realized what he had just said a look of horror and complete terror came over his face. Any remaining colour drained from his face and he instinctively curled up and placed his arms in front of his face. 

"I didn't mean to! I'm sorry master! Sorry master! I didn't realize what I was saying, I'm so sorry! Please don't! Please don't…..i'm sorry!," the boy had his eyes screwed up shut and when Qui-Gon placed his hand on the boys arm he found he was trembling violently. The boy flinched under his touch and kept on whimpering, "Please don't! I'm sorry…..i didn't mean to. I swear! Please, please, please don't beat me!! I'll do anything, please don't. I'm really sorry, please don't beat me!" Qui-Gon jerked his hand back as if he had just touched an red-hot iron, (You think I would do that???) 

"It's ok, I'm not going to harm you. I am a Jedi, I would never harm you." Qui-Gon pushed his argument while making soothing noises, "So whats your name? I do not want to call you by a number, it's inhuman."

The boy looked up at him, distrust and fear swirling around in their depths. He licked his lips and stammered, "R-R-River."

"That's a nice name, River." Qui-Gon put his hand on the boys arm trying to cover the boy in an aura of caring, healing and loving. The boy shivered and withdrew his arm. Qui-Gon tried a different tactic, "So River, are you hurting?"

"Hurting?"

"Yes. Are you in pain? The wounds you sustained are severe. I have some painkillers if you want them…."

River was confused (Why is he caring so much? I'm only a slave.) "Yes master. I am a little bit sore. It will not stop me from doing what you order though."

Qui-Gon nearly screamed at hearing his title being used in such a fashion. He had come so used to hearing it from Obi-Wan for this boy to be using it like this nearly broke him. While trying to keep his calm he said, "I am not your master. You might not have heard this before but although I bought you, you are no longer a slave." With this Qui-Gon handed over the 'resume' to the boy and gently removed his collar. This also he put in the unresisting arms of the boy. 

"W-what?" River didn't understand. "You are not my master?"

"No" (How hard is it for him comprehend this idea? Will Obi-Wan be so 'trained' like this? Whips in the soul, that's what they've done with this boy. Squashed all sense of independence. It's _sickening_.)

"Then who owns me?"

"No one does. You own yourself. You are free to do what you want." Qui-Gon tried to take this slowly.

"Where will I go?" The voice was sad, quiet and totally lost.

Qui-Gon felt pity stab his heart and he heard himself saying, "You are welcome to stay with me. I'm making it perfectly clear that you are free to come and go when and where you like." (Obi-Wan is right about me picking up strays) he smiled wryly.

River stared down at his slave collar and then rubbed his neck where it had been. It felt so weird feeling skin there instead of the thick leather and iron that he had become so used to. He felt lighter, not only physically but mentally. (I am free. I am free!) Suddenly he felt incredibly tired and before he could stop himself he had closed his eyes and fallen unconscious once more, the collar and papers sliding out of his hands.

Qui-Gon caught them before they hit the floor and gently arranged River into a more comfortably position. (I guess the excitement was too much for him….). He looked down at the sleeping boy. (Why do they always look so innocent asleep?) and almost broke down. Looking at the strange boy in front of him he was bombarded with images of Obi-Wan sleeping peacefully, by his side. Night after night, he had taken that boy for granted and now he was gone. (Maybe forever). 

He left River sleeping peacefully and went to his bunk where he lay awake for the rest of the night, anguish and pain slowly eating away his heart. 

****

When Obi-Wan came to the pool of blood he was lying in had dried and had stuck to his face. (Goddammit! I really hate those guards sometimes!). He tried to sit up and gasped as his whole body locked itself in a rigid spasm. (**SHIT!** What the…….?) Very, very slowly he moved his arm down to his stomach and pulled up his tunic. What he saw nearly made him vomit. His whole belly was black with congealing, internal blood. (No wonder my body won't let me move….too much damage). He had seen other guards victims beaten to death. (Is this what it feels like when dying?) He thought of all those slaves that died from internal bleeding, (Am I going to die as well?) He gave it another couple of minutes then tried to sit up. Every single muscle painfully contracted, and Obi-Wan clenched his jaw to stop from crying out and screwed his eyes shut and waited for eternity while the pain went away. (Ok, ok. Go away! Go away, I won't move again, I promise). He gently lay back down on the cold floor and ran his tongue over the jagged edges of his teeth. He shut his eyes and faded off as his body frantically tried to repair itself. 

**** 

He awoke to the sound of a siren going off and groggily blinked his eyes. He suddenly realized something. His face was almost unmarked. Except for the first stunning punch they had placed all their blows below his shoulders. (Why? Why bother? They've already shattered half of my teeth…………how am I going to eat?) With the thought of food his stomach rumbled and he realized that he had missed lunch. (What would Billy think of that?) He heard the tramp of feet and unconsciously shrunk back, afraid that the guards had come back to taunt him. He remembered the blows…………..

………………..blow after blow the Hutt hit him. He was dizzy, his head was pounding. He felt like his bones had been painfully melted and were sloshing around inside his skin. Time after time, he gasped, jerked and tried to move away. There was always something stopping him. He could almost feel the blood vessels stretching, breaking, snapping. He could feel the bruises starting to form, the blood underneath the skin flowing freely where it shouldn't. He could feel his bones creaking under the stress that the Hutt's fist put them under. He could feel the pain, sometimes muted, sometimes unfortunately clear. Once again the pain………………

………………..he let go a strangled cry as the pain once more shot through him, his abdomen protesting strongly as it continued it's healing, while someone tried to haul him into a sitting position. His breathing became laboured once more and he scrunched his eyes together and concentrated on not passing out by concentrating on his breathing. As he concentrated on anything but the pain a thought struck him, (What is Hutt? How do I know what a Hutt is? Where did that memory come from?) At first he wasn't aware of someone talking but slowly it became clearer.

"456!! 456!! What happened? Are you ok? What's wrong? What did they do to you?"

(Billy) Obi-Wan thought wryly remembering his earlier thoughts, (Great. Now shes going to go all motherly on me). 

"456! Can you hear me? Talk to me!! What did the bastards do to y------shit." She had caught sight of his blackened abdomen. "Can you walk?" She finished off lamely.

"Y-ywesh" Obi-Wan blinked. (I'm going to have to re-learn how to speak while missing half of my teeth).

"What?"

Obi-Wan concentrated, "Yes. Shtop, I mean, s-stop holding me like tschat----t-that". (Goddammit, this is harder then I thought), he mentally cursed the guards.

"Okay, if you say so…."Billy wasn't convinced, "Why are you speaking funny?"

"The guardsch…..teetch, zey teecth", (This SUX!) he looked at Billy's confused expression and sighed. He came to a quick decision and bared what remained of his teeth. 

"Oh." Billy's face went completely blank as she looked at the jagged and bloodstained remains of the boy's teeth. (I will kill those guards!). "Well, it's the start of the moon cycle. We have to go."

Obi-Wan couldn't remember how he got from the storage room to the dorms. But the next time he opened his eyes, he was lying at the bottom of the bunks and it took some time to realize that the soft thing curled over the top of him was Billy. (What the…….? What am I doing here? What is she doing here?) As he looked around and took stock of his surroundings another siren sounded and Billy stirred on his chest. He experimentally twisted his body softly and smiled when no screaming pain entered his mind. Of course it ached, and it was deadly sore, but he could move. 

He looked back down and nearly jumped in surprise, a pair of dark brown almost black eyes stared back into his own. 

"Feeling any better?" She yawned and rolled off him with a 'thud' onto the floor, "_Ow_."

Obi-Wan grinned as she reappeared in his line of vision, a hand rubbing the back of her head, her brown/blond hair all sleep-tousled. "Yeah. I'm feeling a lot better, thanchks."

"How about your mouth?"

"Yeah, it'll get better. What are you and I doing down here anyway?"

"I didn't think I should drag you all the way up to the bunk, didn't know if you were going to make it through the night. So I dumped you down here and used myself as a living electric blanket."

"Oh. Ok." He grimaced as his stomach grumbled, "Can we have breakfast? I haven't eaten in………."he mentally counted his fingers, "20 hours."

Billy laughed as she heard his stomach complain, "Sure. You sure you up to it? Here let me give you a hand."

Obi-Wan let her help him and groaned as he felt all the soreness and ache add up, "Yeah, Trust me, I'm up to it." 

The two stumbled their way out of the dormitories.

**** 

** By the way, i've never actually read the book where Obi-Wan gets beaten up by the Hutt on (where was it?) Bandomeer? Was it Bandomeer? I"ve only gathered this from what i've read off other people's stories so i apologize for all the mistakes......sorry!**

Hope you're enjoying the story so far, it's still moving pretty slow although i'm now writing the preparation for the 2nd escape attempt....... SFX: [_Ahhhhhhh_] but it's still got a fair way to go.

If anybody wants instant action, Obi-Toture, Qui-Angst and superb plot lines go to Cassia's stories! Roz:** You will go to Cassia's stories via the Find fuction ***waves hand slightly*** No, serioulsy she is a fantastic writer, check out her stories, you'll love them! I promise! If you don't like them i'll set you up with Obi-Wan and Anakin themselves!!! **[Terms and Conditions apply].

** Can someone actually tell me what happened to Obi when he was bashed up by the Hutt? How did he get away? How badly beaten was he? Etc, etc....**


	9. Like a tunnel that you follow

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**Arldetta**: Yeah, i know *laughs* It was after reading her stories that i got into the whole SW.ff stuff. In fact, if it wasn't for her stories i wouldn't be here doing mine!! Ironic huh? Oh yeah! I've read your 'Free the Jedi' story! It's really good, but *koffkoff* i'm dying for the next part - hurry up please! (but i know what it feels like, i hven't got the motivation to get off my lazy arse and actually type, this is my VERY LAST made-up chapter. I need some of those 'get-up-and-go-motivation-pills'.

**Mydogisfudge**: *blushes* Thanks. When i first started this story i seriously did think that i wasn't going to get any feedback at all because i felt that this story really _really_ SUCKED! I still do, but your reviews help me think, "It can't be too bad if i'm getting reviews......"

**Remnants**: I am updating. 

**Neniae**:*blushes even harder* Thankyou so much! I actually thought the start was really jumpy, i don't like it much but i found that to get the dialogue smooth i had to lengthen the story (thats cause i just SUCK!). When i first heard this song i fully didn't understand it, it was so strange/weird. Then when i was writing this story i thought that it would fit because Obi-Wan's life at the moment doesn't make any sense. Everything is fractured, broken, he's caught in this spiral that he doesn't know anything about. He gets flashed of things that he doesn't understand and i thought (don't mind what i think though) that since the song seems so obscure, ambigous and opague that it might suit. Only problem is that the song is nearly finished and the story nowhere near!

** Does anyone know where i can read the "Bashing-Of-Obi-Wan-On-The-Way-To-Bandomeer" story? My library doesn't have it and i am NOT driving 600km to get it. Does anyone own it that can scan it or something? I'd just like to read it thats all.**

**** 

_When you knew that it was over_

Were you suddenly aware

That the autumn leaves were turning

To the color of her hair

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

River awoke to the smell of something cooking. Like Obi-Wan he hadn't eaten in a long time except he hadn't eaten in something like 96 hours. His body showed it too. He took in the white bandages, the new-smelling white sheets, the painkiller pills placed conveniently placed beside him and couldn't help wondering if it was all a cruel dream. As he wondered a tall, tired looking man appeared through the door holding a plate in one hand and balancing a glass of something-or-other in another hand. The man glanced around the room, saw him awake and purposefully started moving towards him. River shrank back, unconsciously pulling the blankets tighter around him.

Qui-Gon reached the bed and placed the food on the youth's chest, "Breakfast! Looks like you need it. I cooked eggs and bacon, they'll taste delicious. I bet you haven't eaten in a long time huh?" Qui-Gon tried to coax the cowering boy.

River looked at the man (He has kind but tired eyes. If he doesn't want me as his slave why did he buy me?) "I-I-I" He stuttered, his words getting stuck in his parched throat. "C-Can I h-have some w-water p-p-pplease?" 

"Sure, of course you can." Qui-Gon gently placed the cup underneath the boys mouth and helped him drink. River swallowed gratefully and licked his cracked lips. He could feel some of the drink trickling down his throat and chest. It felt good. 

"Are you hungry?" Qui-Gon passed the plate beneath the boy's nose letting the smell waft. River realized he was indeed extremely hungry. 

"Yes sir" he looked pitifully at the food in front of him but made no move to eat it, he had learnt in the past to wait until allowed to eat.

"Well, eat up then. Don't wait for me to tell you!" Qui-Gon grinned as the boy looked up an expression of amazement and gratefulness written across his face, "Oh, and don't call me sir. My name is Qui-Gon Jinn, you can call me Qui-Gon."

"Oh" River was puzzled, "No offence or anything sir, I mean Qui-Gon but if you didn't want me as a slave or if you didn't want a slave to begin with why did you buy me? Or why were at the slave auction originally?" River watched as an unreadable expression flashed over the older mans' face (Good one River. The first nice person you meet, you manage to offend and upset him). He started panicking as the older man's eyes went dark, "I'm sorry! I shouldn't have asked. I didn't mean to offend you, I'm really sorry sir……"he trailed off as the man laid a hand on his arm. 

"It's ok. I'm not angry at you River. The truth is I'm looking for someone."

"Looking for someone? At a _slave auction_?" River couldn't help himself and ravenously started eating his breakfast.

Qui-Gon smiled sadly as he watched River wolf down his food (Are you like this Obi-Wan?) "Yes at a slave auction."

"Who?"

"A boy named Obi-Wan. He was my Padawan."

"Padawan?" River stopped eating to ask, a piece of food hanging out the side of his mouth. 

"A Padawan is a Jedi's name for an apprentice. Obi-Wan was, is, my apprentice."

"You are a _Jedi????_"

"Yes. I told you once before but I think you were a bit too hysterical to notice."

"Cool! So why is your P-Padawan missing?"

Qui-Gon stopped and closed his eyes to gain strength and keep his emotions under control, "Well, it's a long story." He tried to stall for time. 

"Well, I think I'm not going anywhere……"River pressed the older man. 

"Ok", Qui-Gon sighed resignedly, "We were on a mission---"

"Doing what?"

"It doesn't matter", he waved his hand and continued, "We were on a mission and we got separated. The enemy captured Obi-Wan and decided to have some fun with him. So they put him in this machine and wiped out his memory."

"Wiped out his _memory_?!?!? So, like he can't remember _anything_???"

"Yes River. They erased his complete memory."

"Then how would he know who _you_ are?" The older man seemed to age before his eyes, (Whoops, put your foot in it again River).

"He wouldn't."

"So then what happened?" River tried to move as far away as possible from the black abyss he was skating around.

"Well, the guards wanted some more fun. So they took Obi-Wan and……" The man's voice cracked but he valiantly continued, "They took him offworld and dumped him in the middle of some planet with nothing. They took bets to see how long he would survive."

River was speechless, (How can people do that? Plain slavery – yes, I understand but cruelty for sport – no.) "Then what……….?"

"Well, after a couple of days on his own, with no recall of anything, he was taken by a slave-lord and then I don't know."

"What do you mean I don't know?"

**"I DON"T KNOW OK?!?!**" The man exploded then buried his head in his hands, "I'm sorry River. I've just been searching for him for months and I haven't found a trace of him. I've been on edge for a while, I'm sorry about that outburst."

"It's ok." River found it strange being the one giving comfort. "How did you know he got sold?"

"I caught the guards that were playing with Obi-Wan. They had watched him, placing more bets and had seen him taken. The slave-lord just took him and then the guards left, thinking the bet over. Since no more money could be made on Obi-Wan they just left." He laughed bitterly.

"So did you kill the guards?" River found himself fearing the answer. 

"Kill? No! I am a Jedi! Jedi are sworn to keep the peace. We only kill in self-defense." Qui-Gon raised himself up, "But I wanted to………..and that ashamed me even more."

"So how are you trying to find O-Obi-Wan?" River struggled with the strange name.

"I've just been going around to all the auctions asking if they've seen the boy. It's all I can do."

"On what planet was Obi-Wan captured by the guards that wiped his memory?"

"Phindar." Qui-Gon sighed once again, re-living the horrible memories of losing his Padawan. 

"And where was he captured by the slave-lord?"

"Skitz-Bambaataa"

"How come he wasn't sold there?"

"The slave-lord transported him offworld and sold him somewhere else."

"What are the nearest planets? How many are there?"

"About a hundred."

"How many have you searched?"

"About ten."

"Ohhhh." River realized how big a job Qui-Gon was attempting. (It's hopeless. There's no chance that he's going to find the boy). 

"How long have you been searching so far?"

"Around 3 months."

"So………..it's going to take you around 2 ½ years just to search the closest planets and you're not even sure that he's on them?"

"Yes"

(He must know how slim the chances of recovery are). River came to a decision. "I'll help you."

"_What????_" Qui-Gon hadn't foreseen that. "But don't you want to go out and make a life for yourself. You're free now!"

"Well, yes I'm free. Therefore I'm allowed to make my own choices. Beside I owe you for my freedom and for saving my life. If you hadn't have bought me when you did I surely would've died. And I know that you didn't have to buy me, considering the only reason you were there was for your Padawan. So I owe you. Let me do this for you." River grinned then added, "Besides, with you I'm almost guaranteed food, a place to sleep, no beatings and medical treatment for free!"

(Well, not guaranteed, I can't remember how many times Obi-Wan and I didn't have some of them.) Qui-Gon smiled at the boy and extended his hand, "I'll be pleased if you would like to join me River."

"Cool! We got a deal Qui-Gon. I help you and in return I get food!!"

"Deal!" For the first time in around 3 months the older man laughed. Not a sad, bitter sound but a truly, happy one. 

**** 

**A week passed.**

Obi-Wan's bruises turned yellow. Obi-Wan gets a fever from the work in the rain and beatings. Him and Billy manage to hide it from the guards. Weight dropping. River started walking again. Qui-Gon checked out another 2 slave auctions on the planet.

**2 weeks passed.**

Obi-Wan's kidneys healed properly and he stopped passing blood. Fever totally gone. No longer losing weight, although its still dangerously low. He re-learnt how to speak and eat. . River went for his first trip with Qui-Gon. He passed out half-way from exhaustion. 

**3 weeks passed. **

Obi-Wan's stomach returned to it's normal colour, only dirty yellow slightly seen underneath the skin. His mouth stopped getting ulcers from his jagged teeth. Weight stabilizing. River gaining weight. Qui-Gon searched all the auctions without success.

**4 weeks passed.**

Obi-Wan managed to sleep on his side for the first time. Slowing gaining weight. River started to get his fitness up. Training with Qui-Gon. 

**5 weeks passed.**

All of Obi-Wan's cuts healed. Scars appearing on back from whip marks. Bruises completely gone. Stomach still tender though. Gaining weight. River learning hand to hand combat. Qui-Gon deciding to move on. Left the planet. 

**6 weeks passed. **

Obi-Wan weight back to normal (under slave treatment). Body almost completely healed. Ribs almost completely knitted again. River back up to normal weight. Completely healed. Learning endurance training. On a new planet, Qui-Gon searched 2 auctions. 

**7 weeks passed**

Obi-Wan completely healed. Starting to hoard food for escape. Billy researching escape routes. River at peak performance. Trained with blasters, hand to hand combat, endurance training, still learning about computers and programs. Accompanied Qui-Gon to 3 auctions. 

**** 

** Right, i'm sorry that this was so short but it is my very last chapter in my stockpile. Now i HAVE TO get off my arse and write. I'm just too lazy now that it's holidays.**

Do you think i'll reach 50 on my reviews? That would be mind-blowing. Totally fan-tast-ti-cal-ly mindblowing. Right, i'm off to get those 'motivation' pills (a.k.a caffiene, sugar and panadol).

**Anonymous person**: Hey!! I moved it along faster! Did you notice that? The whole '........weeks passed". Although even i thought that writing about the healing would've been boring. Besides i needed something to show the time progression. This story is meant to be in a sort of real-life/time situation. 


	10. To a tunnel of it's own

**** 

**Neniae**: Wow. That was a long review. Put it this way. At the moment it's physically impossible for Qui-Gon to find Obi-Wan at the slave market because he's already been sold into a factory, so he won't be finding Obi-Wan that way. Isn't it sad, becasue i've made him search for Obi-Wan in the wrong place for 6 months. Aren't i mean? Thankyou for your offer on the lyrics but i won't take it up because i've based like the whole theme of the story on the 'windmill lyrics'. I even named the story after it so i'll just re-use the lyrics, in an attempt to imprint them onto your mind! MUAWHAHAHAHA! Arigatou anyway!

**Obiwanfan**: I did get my 50 reviews!!!! YAY! YAY! **YAY!!!!!** I"m sooooo happy!! I'm sooo happy!!! Hang on, i'm going to get myself slightly intoxicated to celebrate this special event!!! I might even print them off and frame them!!!

**Culf**: Trust me, this one has got a while to go. I think it's going to be a trilogy. I think this one will go to about Ch12 and then i'll continue on another one. But put it this way, it will be pretty long. Thanks for your vote of confidence!

** Can someone please tell me the name of the 'Bashing of Obi-Wan' book? I might get my library to order it in, it's the very first one in the series isn't it? What's it called? I really want to read this!**

**** 

_Like a circle in a spiral_

Like a wheel within a wheel

Never ending or beginning,

On an ever spinning wheel

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

Obi-Wan looked at his pitiful ration of food and carefully divided it in two. Making sure that no one was looking his way he wolfed down one portion and then scraped the other portion into his hand which he stored in his pocket. He gave Billy his best 'sad-puppy-dog-eyes' and said, "I'm still hungry!" 

Billy rolled her eyes and tried to keep her face still as she looked at Obi-Wan trying to look 'cute', "Well, duh. You were the one that suggested that we should stockpile some rations and therefore decided to cut our already small rations in half! So now, in our room, we have around 5 days worth of food, which I might add is going off! Although this unpleasant turn of events is countered by the fact that since we have so much mould growing on the food we're probably carrying enough bacta or penicillin to heal the world!"

Obi-Wan winced at her tone of voice, "So you think that that was a bad idea?"

Billy allowed her straight face to crumple and she broke into a grin. "Well, no. The fundamental idea was okay………"

Obi-Wan relaxed, although something was bothering him. Billy's straight, devoid-of-emotion-face had given him a weird sense of deja-vu. The feeling had made his stomach churn with….with what? Sorrow, mental anguish and pain, guilt, remorse, love, pride? It was complicated. (What is with me? Memories about non-existing Hutts, a friend called Bant??? And now this. Why would a straight face cause so many emotions so widely ranged?) Obi-Wan debated silently with himself if he should tell Billy.

(Tell her, shes your friend!)

(But she wouldn't understand)

(Why not, shes been with you this whole time)

(Well, yeah but---)

(Through thick and thin)

(Hang on but---)

(When she just met you she befriended you)

(Yeah, but listen to me---)

(When the guards were starving you)

(But this is dif---)

(She got you food)

(Wait up!---)

(When the guards were beating you up)

(Hey! Stop using this agains---)

(She was there to clean you up)

(Yes but---)

(And shes been there for you every since she met you)

(SHUTTUP!!!)

(I think she deserves to be told)

(**SHUTTUP!!**)

(Well, you wanted an informed opinion)

(I wanted a _fair_ debate!)

(I call that fair, you now know which side you should take)

(I know what I side I should take, therefore I won't tell her!)

(Hang on----)

(HAH! You shut up for once, what the hell do you know???!?!?!)

(As much as you actually….)

Obi-Wan sighed, fighting against yourself was a losing battle, no matter who won. But for some reason he had decided to not tell Billy. (God knows what she'd think of me then). Obi-Wan realized that he was actually a coward. 

(Well, not actually a 'coward' in speaking, just shying away from the painful, uh, truth? Truth is not the word for it….)

(SHUTUP!) Obi-Wan mentally shot, strangled, and threw the inner voice into the deepest, darkest dungeon and broke off the key in the lock. (TAKE THAT!) Obi-Wan woke up to the fact that someone was talking to him.

"456! **456!** Are you _listening_ to me?"

"Huh?" Obi-Wan grimaced inwardly, Billy was not going to like the fact that he had zoned out on her, (But I had a good reason………..) he tried to make up feeble excuses. 

"Am I really that boring?"

"I don't know. I stopped listening about 2 minutes ago." He grinned nervously trying to break Billy's emotionless face. (That face. My stomach. Why does a blank face bother me so much?).

Billy let a grin creep around her face and shook her head. (No matter what, he's always busy doing something else).

"I said, I can't find any way to get out of this building. It's like a trap or something. There is absolutely no way that I can find to leave it. Apart from that, what are we going to do about the transmitters and stuff?" Billy threw her hands up for emphasis.

Obi-Wan shrugged, "I'm sure a situation will present itself………….."(Hang on, what did I say? Why would I think that?)

"Oh, it will will it? Why do I think not?" Billy lifted her eyebrows, "You're very………relaxed about the whole thing shall we say?"

Obi-Wan dropped his head into his hands and massaged his temples, "I'm sorry Billy. I just feel, I don't know. I'm feeling pretty tired and all. Let's just talk about this later or something ok? Lets just take this food back to our rooms." He stood abruptly and left. 

Billy stared at his retreating back with an agape mouth (Ok, did he just snap at me?? That boy just snapped at me. When he has never said anything curt before. Do boys experience PMS?). Then she came to her senses and rushed after Obi-Wan, "Hey, 456! Wait up! What's wrong?"

Obi-Wan sighed as the girl skidded to his side, "Nothing. I'm sorry Billy. I just haven't been feeling well these last couple of weeks."

"What's wrong?" Billy's voice grew motherly and she gently lay her hand upon Obi-Wan's forehead to check his temperature.

"NOTHING!" Obi-Wan snapped, angry at himself for arguing with himself, angry at himself for not knowing what these flashes are, angry at himself for getting these strange feelings, angry for being a slave, angry for Billy caring and most of all, angry for not knowing who he is. 

Billy withdrew her hand startled by the harshness in the boy's voice, "Ok, then. What ever you think 456." She started walking quickly in front and called back over her shoulder, "Let's get this food away shall we?"

Obi-Wan cursed at his roughness and tried to offer a branch of peace, "Look I'm sorry Billy………."

"Look, you can do and think what you want 456. You don't need me to answer to everything." Billy didn't even turn around but kept on walking.

Obi-Wan skidded in front of her, forcing her to stop, "Look. Please Billy. I'm really, really sorry. I can't do this without you. I really can't. _Please_, I'm sorry." He spoke to her desperately, feeling his heart hammering inside his chest. 

Billy looked the boy up and down and allowed a grin to form around her face, "Ok 456. Just don't do it again."

"Deal!" Then trying to get back on track, "So how much food do you think we have?"

"Around 5 days, give or take."

"Ok. Well, we still need to find a way out, how to disable our transmitters and how to escape the juanks."

"Oh shit. I forgot about them. What are we going to do about them?"

"Run."

"Run?"

"Yep. Run really really fast!"

"Oh, great plan 456. I can see that that one took a lot of planning. Are you so sure that you want to go through with this?"

"Yes Billy. I've said it over and over again. I'm going to get out of here, with or without your help!"

"Alrite, alright, calm down boy!" Billy spread her hands in front of her.

"I've been here for almost ½ a year. Don't you understand Billy? I can't stay here for the rest of my life. I need to find out who I am, where I came from, I need to find my family." The boys eyes had misted over and he looked solidly at the floor.

"I do understand 456. Trust me I do." Billy sighed (I don't have any family. Mine were killed in front of me. I don't have any loose ends to clean up. I know who I am. I am Billy the slave. I've been one since I was 7. It is now my life.)

"Then you understand why I have to go?"

"Yes" They were at the dorms. Billy climbed up the ladder first to get to their bunks. Obi-Wan stood at the base of the bunk, holding the food. "Ok, 456. Chuck it up here!"

Obi-Wan took aim and carefully threw the food up to Billy who gracefully caught it. She then _opened up_ the bunk and cautiously stashed the food under the padding and cloth. It had taken her and Obi-Wan a full night to carefully cut away the cloth, move the padding aside to create a little niche in which to store the food. They had then replaced the padding and cloth on top of the food to make it look normal and to stop them from unconsciously crushing the food in their sleep. 

Suddenly a voice echoed through the hall, "Who's there? Show yourself!"

"Shit! Guards!" Obi-Wan hissed through clenched teeth, "Get down NOW Billy!" He watched anxiously as Billy slid silently down the ladder and came to stand alongside him, "What now?"

"Now, I guess we show ourselves. You do the talking."

"Ok" she whispered to Obi-Wan then raising her voice and keeping her head meekly down she said to the guard, "It's only us slaves."

The guard visibly relaxed. He was new to the job and still trying to work out what to do and what not to do. "Alright then. Come out here into the light."

Billy and Obi-Wan quickly but silently came to stand in front of the guard, making sure they offered a humble appearance. The guard took in the 2 bedraggled, gangly, ½ starved figures in front of him with astonishment. He was only new and seeing humans treated like this was definitely a new experience. So he took pity on them, "You slaves aren't meant to be here but I'll let you go this one time. If I catch you again I'm afraid that I'll have to report you to the authorities."

Obi-Wan and Billy shivered slightly but a feeling of deep relief washed over them at the man's unusually kind words.

The guard consulted his datapad and continued, "You are to proceed to the main auditorium, apparently the whole work force is being given new work stations and destinations."

The relief had been in the two were suddenly swept away under the heavy feeling of apprehension. (What are they going to do?) Instead, Billy replied, "Thank you sir." Gave a slight bow, turned and walked quickly away. The guard watched them go and continued on his rounds. 

"What are they doing?"

"As you said, it's been nearly 6 months so they might be rotating the work force around to give them new jobs, or there's going to be a purging of the system or a group are being sold and the remaining have to take up their jobs or something like that. To be quite frank with you 456, I have absolutely no idea. I just pulled that all off the top of my head."

"Oh, ok. That's not very comforting. What happens if we get separated?"

"Hopefully, we won't."

They entered the auditorium and Obi-Wan ruthlessly crushed his feeling of fear and apprehension. He had never actually been in here before and the auditorium was huge. It managed to fit all the slaves, which counted up to be around 5000, easily. Everyone was already assembled there and the slave-masters were on the stage. As Obi-Wan and Billy joined the ranks the master's voice reached them effortlessly.

"A group of slaves have been sold off-world to our sister-company. If your number is called you will be taken right now, loaded onto a ship and taken away. If you try to resist you will be terminated." The voiced droned on without any compassion, not even noticing the level of fear in the building. Obi-Wan and Billy held hands and offered up prayers to anyone that was listening, that the chosen ones would not be them.

"894, 345, 257, 482, 567, 908, 123, 234, 231, 352, 245, 444, 5657, 34876, 68786, 67468, 5787689, 564, 68789, 78895, 67895, 6799585, 673, 6886, 679568, 3464, 5687……." The voice just kept on going, listing the slaves. Obi-Wan had his eyes shut and breathed an audible sigh of relief when the master finished and neither him nor Billy had been sold. 

"Those called move now." There was a ruffle of cloth throughout the building as around 100 slaves left. Obi-Wan looked around and saw the many tears sliding people's cheeks, saw the anguish written on their faces, saw the unabashed relief on other people's faces. Doesn't matter that they were slaves to these people this place was their home. (But being a slave doesn't exactly offer you stability) Obi-Wan darkly thought.

"Right. Listen up!" The master's voice cut through the slaves despair, "Since it is ½ way through the year, we will be having stocktake. A few select few will be trained in using the computers to keep record and trace every part that we've used to assemble our weapons. They will record every shipment that we've sent off, and who we've sent them to, and how much it cost. Those whose numbers are called will leave the auditorium now."

Obi-Wan once more closed his eyes and hoped that it would not be him or Billy.

"567, 435, 768, 67876, 78656, 5674, 56787, 56778, 56758, 2343, 456, 21123, 4567, 23552, 4563."

He heard Billy gasp and felt her hand tense inside his, he opened his eyes slowly (Oh, _no_. Please no. Please tell me I heard wrong.) He turned to stare at Billy and saw tears in her eyes but she rapidly blinked them away and whispered frantically to him, "It's ok. It just means that we won't see each other while working. You'll still be in the same dorm, we can still eat lunch together. All that changes is that you'll be working on the computers rather then carrying boxes around. It'll be fine." She gave him a quick hug as he turned to leave.

"See you tonight Billy." He murmured softly and then slipped away through the crowd.

"Yeah. See you tonight 456." She replied to no one. She hardly heard the rest of the master's instructions. She and Obi-Wan hadn't been away from each other ever since they met. They were at least always in the same room. (But everything will be fine. What can go wrong? Argh, those words always spell doom when used in the same thought with 456). All she gathered from the master's instructions was that she was going to be on the assembly line as normal, except they were going to have to work harder, having to make up for the lost slaves. She sighed, (Great. Work harder. Work faster. Why don't they just install droids????) She then answered her own question with a frown (Because we are expendable, you can't mistreat droids, they cost too much.)

"I hope 456 is alright." She whispered as she too left the building, heading in the opposite direction to the one the Obi-Wan went. "Please let him be alright."

**** 

** Just in case anyone was wondering. Nothing is going on between Obi-Wan and Billy and nothing will continue to happen between them. They are just very close friends and that's it. If you want romance, i'm afriad that you're going to have to look elsewhere. Sorry.**


	11. Down a hollow to a cavern

** Ok guys!! I"m soooo sorry that you had to wait for ages to get this next part! There is one thing that i can console you with, i have now finished the story so you will be getting an update _everynight_ until the story is completely up. The story itself is 138 pages long and i've only posted 41 pages so you can understand how long this is.**

I"m sorry that it took so long but evernts at home overtook me and mum ended going to hospital for a major operation so go easy on the flames for the first chapter please. It hasn't exactly been the best xmas/new-years for me this year......

Anyway, please review and tell me what you think of it!! I hope you like it!!

**** 

_As the images unwind_

Like the circle that you find

In the windmills of your mind

**The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

Qui-Gon watched River with something, if not, close to pride. The boy had recovered well from his ordeals and had grown in his 8 weeks with him. As he felt pride he also felt extreme sadness. As he watched River training, the vision started blurring at the edges. 

River stopped momentarily and stared at the older man who seemed to be crumbling before him. He dropped his training vibro-blade and stepped up to the man who had saved his life. 

"Qui-Gon? Qui-Gon? Are you ok?"

"Y-yes River." The normally stoic man tried to rein in his emotions, without any success.

"No, Qui-Gon. You are not okay, tell me what's wrong."

The older man straightened up, and wiped his eyes. A single tear escaped and traced its way down his cheekbones to drop to the dusty ground, leaving a tiny jewel drop before evaporating into nothing. "It's just………" he faltered.

"Go on." River pressed his teacher while offering physical confidence.

"It's just that when I saw you there training, you looked so much like…….like O-O…." At his Padawan's name Qui-Gon's voice broke.

"Like Obi-Wan?" River supplied the name in question while inwardly flinching at the emotional turmoil that it would cause his teacher. 

"Y-yes. You looked like O-Obi-Wan, when I used to watch him train. Y-you look remarkably like him but……..but……."

"But I'm not him." River felt a twinge of jealousy within. (Chill River! The man has a right to be grieving for his P-padawan. After all, the boy was, is, like a son to him. Qui-Gon is not your father. Qui-Gon is your teacher and that's all. He only bought you because you needed help. He felt sympathetic. Now you're helping him. The end. It's that simple River. He helped you, you help him find his son. Move on.)

"No, you're not him." Qui-Gon sighed, suddenly looking old once again, "But for a second there, I let my imagination think that you were him." He sagged and suddenly sat down on a rock beside River. As River looked down onto his greying head he realized that he did care for this old man. (I would actually do anything for this man. Even though I'm not his son, he obviously did care enough for me to take me in.) 

He heard Qui-Gon sigh once more and saw his shoulders slump even further. He heard the muttered voice, afresh with new pain, "What if I don't find him?"

"You will---"

Qui-Gon continued as if not even hearing the boy beside him, "It's been almost ½ a year. 6 months. And I haven't found a trace of him. Anywhere. I can't find his force signature, but I know that he can't be dead. I would have felt his death if he had've died. The council will soon recall me and then what? What am I going to do? How can I----" he was interrupted as River fell to his knees in front of him and gripped his shoulders in an iron grip.

"Listen to me Qui-Gon. You _will_ find him. It's that simple. **You will _find_ him.** That's all you got to think of at the moment. Just finding your apprentice. If you haven't felt him die then he is _still alive_. He is out there in the universe waiting for you. Do not disappoint him. He is out there, no doubt very scared and very lost. All you have to do is go out and find him. The problem is very simple. He is gone. The answer is also very simple. You will find him. Do you understand me? Qui-Gon, tell me you understand! You cannot give up on him now; do you hear me? He is out there depending on you and all you can do is sit here and blubber about not having found him after 6 months. Did you know that I've been a slave for 6 years? No one found me either, but I didn't let it bother me; one day someone will. And that someone did. Exactly 5 years and 6 months later, you found me. You lecture me about the Force and that everything we do is pre-planned. Then the wait is pre-planned. For what reason, I don't know. Maybe to make you appreciated what you have lost, to realize how much this boy means to you. Forget about what the council are going to do. Answer me this, what is more important to you? The boy or the council? Answer me, old man!" He shook Qui-Gon rather roughly to wake him out of self-pity induced stupor. "Answer me!"

Qui-Gon looked at River through tear-stained eyes, but a different light now punctuated them. Understanding, thoughtfulness and maybe hope, "The boy of course."

"Then you know what to do _old man_." River emphasized the last two words for humour. "Find him."

Qui-Gon looked once more at River then gave him a quick hug, "Sure thing _youth_."

**** 

Obi-Wan leaned back and stretched his long fingers above his head. (This isn't so bad. At least it doesn't involve carrying heavy loads the whole day). It was his 5th day on the computers. The work was simple, didn't involve much work but required nimble fingers. (I wonder why they didn't choose the assembly girls then? Probably because they're needed more then ever on the line to make the weapons.) He answered his own question. 

They had taught him the basics. Showed him the computer and what to do with it. Punch in this code, and this screen comes up. Punch in another code and the required information comes up. Write down the information. Repeat. (Yep, simple work alright but incredibly _boring_.)

Obi-Wan sighed and got back to work with a muttered, "Trade in hard labour for boredom. I don't know what's worse."

About 4 hours later saw the young boy still doing the same task. He found that his mind had switched off once again, and everything he did was automatic. His mind wandered off and tried to solve the problem of escape routes, outrunning the juanks, disabling the terminator and beacons and of course, how to smuggle more food out of the kitchen. Out of all 4 problems, his mind and most of all, his stomach were centered on the fourth. He glanced at the chronometer and realized with a shock that he had missed lunch. In fact, the whole group had. (Aren't they going to feed us?) Apparently, several other workers had the same idea because one of them timidly raised his hand and called one of the guards over. The room was deathly still as his question floated across to Obi-Wan's straining ears. 

"Do we get a break for lunch?" It was such an innocent question but the guard gave an evil laugh, pulled out his blaster and shot the man through the chest. As the ex-slave's body hit the ground with a 'thud' the guard gave another laugh and said to everyone in general, "No talking. You people don't get lunch. Figured you're not doing any really strenuous work, therefore you don't need the extra food."

Obi-Wan untensed his muscles and remembered to breath. Unfortunately, he had breathed through his nose and the smell of scorched flesh nearly made him throw up. (Ok, you know a simple, 'NO!" would had sufficed. You didn't really need to kill a slave to make your point.) He shook his head softly and returned to the task in front of him. 

½ an hour later, the smell had almost completely gone, due to the ventilation system and the issue pushed into the back of his mind. His mind and body had reset themselves to work on auto-pilot. He watched the screen in front of him with glazed eyes as it gave up its secrets in the face of his codes. His fingers were whizzing across the keyboard accompanied by the hypnotic beeps and clicks that the computer was emitting. As he was typing an………….

……………….urgent feeling overtook him as he crouched over the computer console, trying to coax it into giving him its secrets. He could feel the people coming down the corridor and he knew that he didn't have much time until they came into this room and saw him on the computer. And that would be a bad thing, considering that he wasn't meant to be anywhere near it. His finger flew over the surface of the keyboard as his body tensed for the moment of flight soon to follow. He almost wasn't breathing, for fear of drowning out other sounds that he was listening for. There! He could hear it. Footsteps coming down the corridor. Mumbled words spoken. He could even hear the people breathing heavily in the next room. Wait! Wait! His mind screamed as his fingers continued to search for their information. More time, just a minute more. He needed to get this information. He needed to give it to his master. His master Q……..YES!! The computer screen flickered for a minute then typed the message across the screen:

_Password accepted._

Almost there, almost! His breathing hitched in his throat as the computer frantically whirred, downloading the whole system onto the datachip that he had inserted. His head turned fractionally as the doorknob started squeaking, slowly turning to the right. No, NO! ONE MINUTE MORE!! JUST A SECOND AT LEAST!! He prayed, he silently begged to anyone or anything that was listening. His prayers were answered as the door stayed shut and the voices rose in volume, giving the impression of an argument being conducted just outside. After what seemed a lifetime, in where he had actually stopped breathing and his heart sounded unnaturally loud the datachip popped out and he quickly shoved it in his pocket and quickly erased the message on the screen:

_Data transaction complete._

No time. The doorknob was starting to turn again, this time with resolve. He needed to go. Where? He needed an………………….

………………………idea overtook him. This computer must be connected to the mainframe if they could give all this information. He then blinked and shook his head. (But I didn't even _know_ what a computer was before this). Things were getting rather strange. These memories seemed to be just creeping up on him, releasing themselves when there was a trigger. He started muttering to himself as his fingers continued their journey, "My mind knows what a computer is. Unless I was watching a person h-hack into a system, that must have been me. Jeez, it felt awfully real." He wiped his hand over his brow where he had started sweating profusely as the memory had grown tenser. 

"I must know how to use a computer. If I didn't then I wouldn't be able to do this easily." Obi-Wan looked around him to all the other terminals around him where people were struggling with the codes, checking their manuals and generally, just having a hard time getting the computer to do what they wanted it to do. 

"It's easy. It's so simple. Why do they find it so hard?" he wondered aloud. Without him even noticing his fingers had taken a course of their own and suddenly his screen flickered and the message in bold, intimidating, red print flashed across his screen.

_Mainframe access denied._

_Password:_

Obi-Wan physically jumped as the computer emitted a rather loud beep but as he quickly looked around no one was paying any attention to him. The room was full of the sounds of beeps and clicks as people tried the computer's patience.

(How the hell did I just get into this situation?) he cursed himself and his lousy memory. He tried to get out of it but everything that he tried ended up with his screen flickering back to the same message:

_Please enter password:_

And an impatient beep. Obi-Wan sighed. (Fine then. If I can't go backwards, then I guess I'll have to go forwards.) There was no chance of him falling behind as he had already completed the work allocated to him and had started on his next task; which had actually been scheduled some time next week. 

For the next hour Obi-Wan struggled to enter the correct password and ended up with the same message for his efforts.

_Access denied._

_Password:_

Obi-Wan ground his teeth together with hardly contained anger and felt like smashing the console in front of him. (Ok, ok. Chill 456. There has got to be a trick in this. How did you get into this? You have no idea. So why don't you just let yourself drift off and let your fingers do the work? They seem to know what to do.) For ½ an hour he tried his best to let his mind drift but it just kept going back to the task at hand. (Dammit! Why can't I relax? Didn't I ever just laze around? What did I do in my previous life??? Seems to be I didn't get much rest!) As the boy kept thinking and fantasizing about his 'previous' life, his fingers unconsciously played their own path across the keyboard. ½ an hour later while wondering what he must have done in order to have such strange memories, the computer screen flickered and the message typed itself in comforting green.

_Password Accepted. Opening mainframe._

The boy blinked, (Where did I get such memories to get such………abilities? Maybe I was a spy or a bounty hunter or something like that?)

He quickly looked around once more; to his relief no one was looking at him, and quickly submerged himself in this task in front of him. The screen layout was basic and before he realized what he was doing, his fingers were dancing on their own without any apparent thought from his brain.

(Dang, this is creepy). His eyes glazed over as he tried to enter a type of 'trance'; quite unsuccessfully.

"Fine then." He murmured softly, "What am I actually doing in here?"

(You didn't ask to be in here, your fingers got you in here.)

"Ok, so what should I be doing?"

(Finding a way out)

"Anything else that I can do apart from that?"

(What???)

"I'm in the mainframe, _the MAINFRAME!_ I'm connected to all the information that I could ever need. Hey! This could seriously boost our chances with our escape……….."

(Oh no you don't----)

But before Obi-Wan's conscious could voice it's opinion, the boy's mind was filled with ideas on how being in this present situation could help his position. "Maps, theres got to be schematics on here somewhere, blueprints, _ventilation shaft_ maps and if it comes down to the worst, _the plumbing._" Obi-Wan's mind was in whirl as he realized everything he could do. 

"With the maps, escape would be easy! Ok, 456. Calm down. Let's start at the beginning. How are you going to escape? First, gather up the food and sneak out of the dormitories. That's ok, the guards don't bother to keep watch there. Secondly, using either the ventilation or sewerage or even the morgue system-ways get beyond the walls. Thirdly, somehow outrun the Juanks. But what about the terminator and locator beacons?" he mused while his fingers frantically searched for the maps that he wanted. "There has to be a way to disable them. They can't leave them activated in dead people, that would just take up unwanted space. They need to clean up after themselves, right?" he stopped, startled as in idea flashed into his mind. Obi-Wan shook his head slightly, amazed but said out loud, "Just start from the start. Maps. Get the map, that's what we need."

For the next 15 minutes he threw everything he had into the search. He found everything else that he _didn't_ need and made a mental note of some of the more interesting ones but ploughed on through the information flung at him by his questing fingers. 

If anyone was to pass him by, they would have heard muttering akin to this: "Do I look like I'm looking for _that??_ NO!! Course not. Give me the goddamn maps! How hard can it be to find the schematics of this factory? They're only schematics – big deal. I mean, who in their right mind would look for schematics? Except for wannabe escaping slaves? Right, point taken. But I mean, give us a fair go! They treat us like sh-----" and the person would've walked away, shaking their head and saying something similar to:

"He's gone crazy."

But if anything, Obi-Wan had become clearer about his previous position in life. He seemed to be an expert in computers, able to do anything, find his way through anything. The layout itself, seemed like an old friend. Comfortable, reliable and totally predictable. If he didn't concentrate too hard, finding his way around was easy. Too easy. Warning bells sounded in his head but he ignored them. What could they do to him anyway? As if they could track _him_ in _their_ system.

As 15 minutes passed, he skin began prickling and sweat began trickling down his neck. He was getting closer. He could feel it. His fingers struck the final key and with a silent whoop of joy the computer let go of the precious information that it been withholding. 

Map after map followed on the screen, each overlapping the next in a wonderful colour of blue and white. Obi-Wan didn't think that he had seen anything more beautiful in his life. He looked over to the printer; no one was there. 

"Good! No, actually, that's great!" he talked enthusiastically as he prepared to print off the whole lot. Everything was in order. He had the floor plans, the plumbing, the sewerage, the electricity, even the measurements of everything within the factory. He also had a tiny bit of the layout of the grounds outside. His hand hovered over the print button for a second, he closed his eyes, breathed out silently, prayed and pressed it. 

_Printing commencing._

Obi-Wan opened his eyes as another idea quickly overtook him. Swiftly, he cancelled the printing order and opened up his other 'allocated' work. (10 pages long, good). Without any qualms he pressed the print button and the printer gave several clicks and started off. Obi-Wan then frantically went back to his maps and pressed the print button. (Let's hope you've timed this correctly 456.) 

He tried to walk normally over to the printer but everything he did seemed awkward, out of place, strange. He made it over to the printer just as it was printing out a page. Obi-Wan picked up a page at random: _The amount of parts sold on the 17th of the 6th Daycycle, 1080th complete Cycle. Below list._ Obi-Wan sighed with relief. He picked up another paper: _Layout for floor 6._ The boy had overloaded the printer with commands, so the poor machine had had to print both programs at once. Obi-Wan unconsciously tensed but when no-one screamed, "ROGUE SLAVE!" he began to relax.

It seemed like a lifetime but when the printer finally spat out it's last page the boy gathered them up and sorted them out, placing the legitimate work on top and the non-legitimate work on the bottom. He had just finished and was congratulating himself when a hand spun him around and pinned him to the printer.

(Oh, _shit_). 

"What do you think you're doing?" The guards foul breath washed over the young boy. Obi-Wan tried his best not to wrinkle up his nose or gag. He could smell alcohol on the man's breath as well. (Careful 456.)

"P-printing sir."

"Let's see some of it then." The guard commanded and held out a meaty hand.

"Y-yes sir." Obi-Wan tried to calm down his heart as he carefully handed over the top page.

"Hhhm, this appears to be in order." The guard roughly shoved the paper back at the boy, "Get back to work slave." And gave him a 'friendly' push in the right direction. Obi-Wan stumbled but didn't fall.

"Yes sir" he said meekly and went back to his console, breathing a sigh of relief. (That was too close 456.)

He sat back down and his fingers went off on their own again as he sat in his own world, "So I have the maps. What now? The problem of the terminators and locators. What can I do about them? There has to be a way to disable them."

Obi-Wan gave a gasp of surprise followed by a smug smile of satisfaction. He was in the morgue records. His face fell as he noticed the long list of the deceased slaves. A picture and profile accompanied each entry and across the picture there was the typed message:

_Deceased._

As Obi-Wan went through them, he noticed that they all had the various causes of death listed as well and some of the ex-slaves had:

_Terminated._

Typed on their picture. For a joke, Obi-Wan brought up his own profile just to see what was on it. 

_**Number:** 456_

**Bought from:** Slave master Tr'ojk

**Hair:** Brown/ginger

**Eyes:** Aquamarine

**Details:** No apparent memory.

**Special medical conditions:** Amnesia

**History:** Attempted escape once – not fitted with precaution devices. Now fitted.

**Work History:** Cargo bay/unloading/loading. Transferred to computer for stocktake. 

Obi-Wan couldn't help smiling cynically at the _Special medical conditions._ (As if the overseers would bother buying a retarded slave. And if one did go crazy, they'd just terminate it.) He brought up Billys as well.

_**Number:** 970_

**Bought from:** Slave master Tr'ojk

**Hair:** Brown/black/blonde

**Eyes:** Brown/black

**Details:**

**Special medical conditions:**

**History:** Fitted with precaution devices.

**Work History:** Conveyer belt.

Obi-Wan bit his lip. (Should I? Shouldn't I?) He juggled his thoughts around then suddenly threw caution to the wind. (Do it now 456). He bent his head down in serious, deep concentration and typed furiously. 

_Entering new data._

After ½ an hour, Obi-Wan was sweating. (Almost there, almost…..)

_New data successfully uploaded._

Obi-Wan gave a silent cry of success and pulled up Billy's profile once again. This time he pulled it up in the morgue records. There it was, straight after the person who had been shot in front of Obi-Wan. 

_**Number:** 970_

It was all there in front of him. Except for one difference. One very significant difference. On the picture of Billy was typed:

_Deceased._

(YES!! YES!!! I DID IT!!! I DID IT and I still don't know _how!_)

His screen glimmered and automatically a message flashed up:

_Disable terminator?_

Obi-Wan sucked in his breath and typed in, **Yes**

It was instantly followed by another request for command.

_Disable discomfort enhancer?_

Obi-Wan gave another sardonic smile at the 'nice' name for the little torture device. (Discomfort? I think I'd class it bit harsher then that.) **Yes.**

_Disable transmitter?_

Obi-Wan needed no prompting. **Yes.**

_970 deceased. All systems disabled with subject 970. Confirm? **Confirmed.**_

The screen gave another flicker (It's equivalent of a nod I guess) and then lay still. 

Obi-Wan allowed himself another smug grin. (I did it. Well done to me). Then said, "Right, my turn next."

He went through the same process and declared himself dead. Once again the message flashed across the screen.

_Disable terminator? **Yes.**_

Disable discomfort enhancer?** Y**

Suddenly, the screen froze for a second and then a message typed itself across it.

**_Security breach detected. Systems shutdown in 1 minute._**

(Oh, _fuck_.) Obi-Wan wasted 5 precious seconds by staring at the screen. Then his reflexes kicked in and his fingers flew over the keyboard. (Erase my tracks, have to erase my tracks. Quickly, quickly!)

**_System shutdown in 40 seconds._**

Obi-Wan was so pre-occupied that he didn't even remember to finish off updating his profile. (How did they know I was in here? How can they possibly know? So, I hacked in----)

**_System shutdown in 20 seconds._**

(Oh shit. Oh shit. OH SHIT! How did I get into this situation? Everything was going fine.) Obi-Wan's mind was panicking but his fingers knew what they were doing. They went through his history and erased everything that linked him to this computer. Everything was obliterated.

**_System shutdown in 10 seconds._**

He laid down a false trail, showing that some poor offworld company had tried to search through classified files and had failed pathetically. 

**_System shutdown in 5 seconds._**

(No! I need more time. Idiot, idiot! Stupid 456! What were you doing in there the whole time???). He quickly rushed through the rest of the red herring, doing a poor job of it but it was all he could do with the time…..

**_System shutdown in 1 second._**

(Please don't trace it to me, please don't trace it to me, please don't trace it to me--)

**_System shutdown._**

**** 

** So what do you guys think? Do you like it? Do you hate it? I think that this is going to be a looonnnnggg story. It turned out to be 57,274 words, but on the bright side i _promise_ to update nightly! Sorry.**

Also, tell me if you want long chapters but less of them (obviously cause i'll get to the end quicker) or if you want short chapters and more of them (uhm...ditto)


	12. Where the sun has never shone

** Hi guys! My, the chapters have gotten amazingly long haven't they?**

KenobisGirl:** I haven't actually seen Swordfish, it's now on my 'to do before i die list'....**

Annabellea: **Have you gotten round to reading any of Cassia's fics yet? If so, what do you think of them?**

**** 

_Pictures hanging in a hallway_

And the fragment of this song

Half remembered names and faces

But to whom do they belong?

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

Obi-Wan clenched his eyes shut and waited for something to happen. He waited for guards to start screaming at him, for the computer to explode or something. After 10 seconds he cautiously opened his eyes. Nothing. The computer was back to it's old, strangely comforting screen. (Strange, I don't remember getting back to my old screen………)he looked down at the keyboard where his fingers lay still, trembling slightly but still for the first time in over 4 hours. 

A siren went off and Obi-Wan physically jumped, scared. (They've found me, they know it was me. I'm so dead. They're going to kill me. They're going to----)

"Beginning of mooncycle. Get going you slaves. Get your rations." The guards voice cut through the boy's frantic thoughts like a hot knife through butter. (M-mooncycle?) He looked up at the clock and was amazed to see how late it was. According to the chronometer he had spent around 2 ½ hours in the mainframe, and another 2 hours just trying to access it. 

(Far out, no wonder they detected me. I was in there for heaps long. 2 hours and I didn't even notice. _Too_ long.)

Obi-Wan shoved the maps up and under his tunic and kept his legitimate work in his trembling hands. He got up and tried to act normal but once again, just that task seemed elusive. It seemed to him that everyone that knew what he had done. (Yeah, it's fine. I'm just 456. I haven't done anything that I shouldn't have. I'm innocent, totally and completely innocent. Look at me! Do I look like I would break the rules? Do I really? I mean, seriously…..) His thoughts trailed off into silence as a guard approached him. He didn't realize that he had stopped breathing until the guard walked straight past him without even a second glance. Obi-Wan let his breath out in a whoosh and had to lean on the door to try and stop panting. 

"Oi! Keep moving if you want to get your rations!" The guards voice cracked like a whip causing several slaves to glare in Obi-Wan's direction and mutter quietly about losing their food.

Obi-Wan gave a curt nod and then nearly ran down the hall to get to the cafeteria in the quickest time possible. (I wonder what Billy will say? I'll bet that she'll be heaps impressed! I got the plans! I got our escape route! She'll be stoked!)

**** 

"YOU DID **WHAT?!?!**" Billy almost screamed the words and then ducked her head as everyone turned to look at her. "You _idiot!!!_ You stupid IDIOT!!! How could you be so dumb?!?!?"

(Well, ok, it wasn't the reaction that I was aiming for but……)

"That whole time??? You could have been detected at any time!!! And then what would have happened?? And the guards? How do you know that they weren't keeping tabs on you? Do you have ANY IDEA how easy it is to view someone else's workings on a computer while being on one yourself??? 456!! How could you possibly?? How could you???"

(Blah, blah, blah)

"456!! You stupid &$*#*&^$*&!!"

(That wasn't very nice………I wonder what it means.)

**_"You stupid *&^#*&@#*&^(*&!!"_**

(Maybe shes coming around and starting to give me praise in her own language or something like that)

"I can't believe that you could be so _NAÏVE!!_ How old are you??? 10???" With that she gave him a resounding whack behind the head, "Let THAT be a lesson to you!"

(Ok then, maybe not…..) He ruefully rubbed the back of his head and gave her his best 'sad-puppy-dog-look'. 

"Look, I'm really sorry Billy, but I couldn't just pass up a chance like that. Not when it practically drops into my lap like that. Isn't it strange the way that I suddenly just knew? Almost like a godsend don't you think?" he looked optimistically at Billy's face and his own drooped. (No? Ok then, so it wasn't a godsend. So maybe it was the devil tempting me and I failed miserably.) "But seriously Billy, I couldn't pass up a chance like that. The maps that I got could be the deciding factor for a successful escape. Know we can finally work out how to get out of here. Tonight we can plan the route. Er……"

"So, is there anything else you should be telling me?" Billy raised her eyebrows, she knew that the boy was stalling and that couldn't be a good thing.

"Er……well, uhm. You see, what happened is……..if I-I was to tell you that……."Obi-Wan knew that he had to tell her but now that it was time he just couldn't say the words. 

"Out with it 456." Billy's voice had a dangerous edge to it. 

"Wehavetoescpereallyreallysoon." The boy's voice tumbled over itself and in his rush he had forgotten to separate each word.

"Huh? What?"

"Weneedtogo_now_!"

"Calm down! Speak slower, I can't understand a word that you're saying."

Obi-Wan took a deep breath, "Well, when I was on the computer, I was…uhm….."

Billy narrowed her eyes, "I'm not going to like this am I?"

"Uhm, no. I was detected."

"You were **WHAT?!?**" Billy's voice screeched even louder this time. She stopped herself from punching the boy's innocent face in front of her and breathed carefully, "456. Tell. Me. The. _Whole_. Story. From. The. Start. _Now_." She carefully enunciated each word making sure that Obi-Wan knew how serious she was.

Obi-Wan did know. He swallowed fearfully and started his story, "Uhm. Well, I was just working away when suddenly I was in the mainframe."

Billy's eyes narrowed even further, "Suddenly in the mainframe?"

"Uh, yeah. I was just working away and suddenly I was just in the mainframe. I truly don't know how it happened."

"Right, don't tell me. Your fingers suddenly got a mind of their own and started typing their own commands, without _you_ having any knowledge of it." Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Uh, yeah." (How did she know?) The sarcasm was lost on Obi-Wan.

"Fine. Go on." Billy's eyes were looking extremely dangerous. Obi-Wan gathered up his courage and tried unsuccessfully to drape it around his shoulders. He gulped and continued.

"Well, when I found out I was in the mainframe I decided to do some exploring. I had lots of time and no one seemed to be paying any attention. So I went off searching for anything that could help us in the escape. I found the maps." Obi-Wan thought over if he should tell Billy about disabling her systems but decided against it. (Don't want to give her another reason to yell at me. Besides, she'll have another fit and I don't want to get her hopes up in case it doesn't work….)

Billy caught him hesitating, "And then…..?"

"Well, then that's when somehow the system detected me. It chucked me out."

Billy closed her eyes and tried to stop herself from screaming with frustration, "456. Do you realize that they can trace your trail back to the console that you were on?"

Obi-Wan gave a wicked grin that split his face in two, "Well, you see. Before the system had a complete lockdown, I managed to lay a false trail making appear that someone offworld had tried to access secret files."

Billy gaped, "And, pray do tell, _how_ did you manage to do that?"

Obi-Wan shook his head softly, "Actually, I have _no_ idea. It's like my fingers started whizzing around by themselves. I just knew, like instinctively, knew that that was what I was doing and I knew that I had to do it. But I still don't know _how_ I did it." The young boy turned wide eyes to the girl seated next to him, "I'm scared by it Billy. I don't know how I can do this stuff. It doesn't make any sense. I don't know what I'm doing, but I _do know_ what I'm doing. I don't get any of it. The layout looked familiar, like I'd seen it many times before. My reflexes just take over and I just do this stuff without knowing _how_. I don't understand why Billy."

Billy felt her heart melt and tried her best to console Obi-Wan, "I don't know either 456 but it sounds like you're starting to get flashes of your memory back."

"Yes, but what if I don't _like_ what I did in my previous life? What if I was like a bounty hunter or a horrible person?" Obi-Wan was coming to the core of his fears.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is now. You should---"

(Keep your focus on the here and now. Don't center on your anxieties Pa----)

Billy noticed that Obi-Wan's eyes had become glazed, "456? Hello? Anyone home?" For emphasis she waved her hand slowly in front of the boy's face – with no respone.

"Huh?" Obi-Wan woke up, "What were you saying?" (Where did that come from? Where did I hear that? I've never heard that in my life! Who said that? Who says stuff like that?)

"I _said_, that don't worry about what happened in the past. You're you now and even if you were a horrible person I don't see why you can't change. Forget about it. Let's get back to the original subject." She waved her hand.

Obi-Wan found himself mesmerized by her waving hand until he gave himself a mental shake, (Get over it. It's a waving hand. Big deal. As if that means anything. Billy's right. Center on the escape. Everything else can come later). "You're right Billy. Sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry about. So, you reckon that you laid a false trail. Is a good one?"

Obi-Wan grimaced, "No, if they do their job properly they will find faults in it and ultimately find out that it is fake."

"So they could possibly trace it back to you?'

"Yes. It's highly possible."

Billy let out a breath through clenched teeth and muttered a very un-ladylike remark. "Well, then. That just means that we have to get out of here sooner. How long do you think the red herring will last?"

"If they're dedicated to their job, no more then 2 days."

"_Great_." Billy couldn't keep the sarcasm out of her voice, "_Wonderful_. So we need to leave _really_ soon."

"Uhm, yeah. I guess that's what I've been trying to say."

Billy straightened her shoulders and her eyes hardened with resolve. "Fine then. We leave in two days. Tonight, we plan our escape route. Actually, we'll do that now. C'mon, let's retire to the dorms while there's still light." She got up and Obi-Wan followed. Billy grinned back over her shoulder, "It's going to be a long night. Hope you got some coffee!"

(What's coffee?)

**** 

Qui-Gon sighed as he crossed another planet's name off the list. (Nothing once again.) He put down the clipboard and moved up into the cockpit. River wasn't back yet. He had gone to the other auction which was practically on the other side of the planet. He had taken the swoop bike but as Qui-Gon watched the sun continued to fall, casting wonderful shades or red, orange, yellow and ochre on the quickly fading landscape. 

(Obi-Wan would've loved seeing this) The older man quickly shook himself, "Have to stay strong. There's no point breaking down halfway if I'm to get the Obi-Wan back." He drilled the lesson into himself then sadly thought, "I can't believe it's nearly been 6 months. ½ a year. ½ a year since I've seen my Padawan." Qui-Gon reflected the years that he had been glad of never seeing a Padawan, the betrayal of Xanatos too much for his tender heart and grinned at life's little ironies. (Last year, I would've given anything to never take a Padawan again and now? Now I would give anything to get my Padawan back.) "The way things change over time." Qui-Gon gave another sardonic grin. 

Pushing aside his thoughts he picked up his comm.-link and spoke quickly into it:

"River?"

"River here. Yes Qui-Gon?"

"Did you find anything?"

"Sorry, nothing." River knew how much each negative response hurt the older man.

Qui-Gon let go of a breath he had been holding, "That's alright. It's getting dark. I'll meet you ½ way with the ship. I want to keep moving."

River nodded, he didn't expect anything. They had been on the move ever since River had known the older man, "Right. I'm on my way now. I'll turn on all the lights, so you know where I am. Also activating the beacon."

"Right. See you soon. Qui-Gon out."

River clipped the comm.-link back on his belt. He didn't know if he was glad or sorry that Obi-Wan hadn't been found yet. He truly did love Qui-Gon. The man had treated him better then River could remember and he knew that once Qui-Gon found his Padawan that although the caring between them wouldn't be completely lost it would be severely reduced, being focused on Obi-Wan. River sighed. (It doesn't matter. You're just helping him locate his apprentice. That's all. Keep it simple stupid.)

River gave another sigh and swung his leg over the swoop bike and sped off to meet Qui-Gon. 

**** **** 

** Review!! It gets better, just you watch.......(well, sort of better. You know towards the end i really started to hate this story.....)**


	13. Like a door that keeps revolving

**Do you people mind the fact that it's going to be really long?**

Culf:** I don't know why i hate it actually. Have you ever written a story and then as it continues you think that it gets dumber and dumber? Or you've read it so many times that everything you see is a flaw? And that you feel that it probably would've been better to not have started? Thats how i feel about this story, but I figured, you liked it, so i better finish it. If i keep the chapters the way they are, there are probably going to be more then 20 chapters. Get a sort of idea?**

GoldenRose**: Nah, i'm not going to turn River into a bitter brat. Just trying to show a bit of jealously in his nature.**

Annabellea**: Uhm, i go through stages where i alternatively hate it or just don't think about it.....**

**** 

_When you knew that it was over_

Were you suddenly aware

That the autumn leaves were turning

To the colour of her hair?

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

Tonight was the night.

Obi-Wan couldn't keep still. Tonight was the night that he was going to escape. He turned to Billy, who also was fidgeting, beside him, "You think that we'll make it?"

"We'll try or damnest!" Billy tried to smile convincingly.

"Do or do not, there is no try………" Obi-Wan stopped, "What did I just say?"

" 'Do or do not, there is not try'" Billy repeated obediently for the boy, "What a strange saying, where did you hear that from?"

"Uhm," Obi-Wan racked him brains, "I have no idea. I just popped out and I don't know where _from_". He tapped his leg irritatedly. 

"Well, it's a good saying. We will _do_ our damnest and we _will_ escape. Let's go over the plan again."

"Ok," Obi-Wan conceded, it was better then just waiting around for the time to pass. 

"Number 1?" Billy prompted.

"What till it's pitch black and the guards have stopped moving around."

"2?"

"Taking our food and the maps, make our way to the ventilation shaft in this very dorm."

"And then……..?"

"Using the map and this bit of candle the we managed to smuggle, find our way through the labyrinth of shafts and get out beyond the gates."

"And…….."

"Then we run like hell, hoping that the guards won't notice anything amiss and release the juanks." Obi-Wan shivered remember his last brush with the beasts. Those red eyes hunting, searching, stalking.

"Right then we go……..?" Billy just wouldn't let up.

"Then we enter the forest beyond the gates and running cross-country, because it's the quickest way and will hamper guards on bikes or suchlike, we make it to the space-port."

When Obi-Wan and Billy had been going through the maps they had found one that showed outlay of the factory and the layout of the roads around it. Very much like a normal town map. They had found that there was a spaceport not far from the compound. No doubt used to ship in and out the merchandise that was assembled in the factory.

"Good so far, then…….?"

"There is a ship that leaves precisely at 1am, standard time."

Among the maps they had also found a time schedule. Obi-Wan had been stoked, Billy had been reserved. 

"So we stow ourselves on board and then hope that the guards don't notice us until the dawn the next day. By then, we'll be too far away for the implants to register."

"Perfect 456. So what's the time now?" Obi-Wan quickly looked at the chronometer and gasped, "It's 11pm."

"Exactly. Let's go."

Obi-Wan jumped up excitedly and quickly started shoving the food in his tunic. His breathing was free but heavy.

"456. Stop." Billy's voice commandeered him to stop. She sounded very professional.

"What?" 

"We only have one chance at this, so listen carefully. Keep quiet. _Very_ quiet."

"But I was being quiet!" Obi-Wan tried to protest to no avail.

"You were not. I could hear you breathing. You need to be able to make it sound like no ones there. I shouldn't be able to hear you. At all. I should have no idea that you're behind me. If I can't hear you what chance does a bumbling guard have?"

"Oh. Okay. You seem to know what to do!" The barb was meant as a jest but Billy took it seriously.

"I've had a lot of practice creeping around masters who I would prefer not to meet. Trust me, I have had experience." Billy turned away so that Obi-Wan couldn't see her face but that couldn't hide the pain that the boy had heard in her voice. 

"I-im sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." Obi-Wan touched her gently on the arm.

"That's ok. I know you didn't." Billy flashed him a smile, her white teeth illuminated in the dark, "But let's go. Before we miss our ship." She took one more glance at the watch strapped her wrist (that she had carefully pick pocketed off some poor unfortunate soul) and slid quietly down the bunks. 

Obi-Wan's heart was hammering in his chest and he forced himself to breathe quietly. He followed her just as soundlessly and together they removed the grille of the shaft. Obi-Wan took off his tunic and used it as a muffler to deaden the sounds of the metal being pulled out. As soon as the grilled came away a horrible stench assailed their senses and Obi-Wan had to put his hand over his mouth to keep from throwing up.

"Appears that someone else has tried their luck with the shafts, but got a bit lost." Billy whispered bitterly into Obi-Wan's ear.

Billy didn't hesitate and crawled silently in the duct. Obi-Wan took one look and baulked. It seemed so small, so dark, so claustrophobic. He then steeled himself, ruthlessly squashed his fear and crawled into the small tunnel.

(Fear leads to the Dark side-----huh?? Another weird-ass saying. Where did I pick up such crap? Creepy).

Obi-Wan's thoughts stopped as he concentrated on following the dark from of Billy in front of him. As they crawled onwards, the stench grew worse.

Left, left, straight ahead, right, left, left, right, right, straight ahead, slightly upwards, right, left, straight ahead, vertically up, left, left, right, vertically down, left………..

It seemed to go on forever and suddenly as he turned the corner he collided with Billy's feet. 

"What's wrong?" he hissed softly as possible.

"Arugh." Billy appeared to be retching. 

"Billy, what's the matter?" 

"S-smell the air 456." He could see Billy's heaving form and he obediently drew in air through his nose. The stink was so strong, so strong that it was over powering his senses. It made him nauseous and his stomach heaved forcefully. His head started spinning and dizziness swiftly overtook him. He fell forward catching himself on his chin as he tried to re-orientate himself. 

"456? Are you ok?"

(Ok, no more breathing through my nasal passages. Use your mouth) Obi-Wan commanded himself and obeyed his own instructions. This didn't really improve matters, the smell was so bad he could almost taste it. "Ngk. U-uh. Yeah, I'm fine Billy. Let's keep going." He silently choked back a gag and forced back down the bile threatening to overtake him. 

"Right. Watch yourself. The corpse is coming up on your right."

Obi-Wan nodded even though there was no possibility of her seeing him in the dark. As he crawled onward he caught sight of the corpse pitifully scrunched up in a turning to his right. The body looked like it was around 4 weeks old. It's flesh was rotting and as he went pass he could see the red eyes of rodents watching him as they feasted on the spoiled meat. Obi-Wan swallowed and tried to calm down his stomach. The empty eyesockets glared at the boy and Obi-Wan hurried past. 

(I wonder how much he wanted a map, I wonder how long it was before he died of starvation?).

Obi-Wan shook his head again, trying to clear it of the horrible thoughts. He could do nothing for that slave. He was free somewhere, somewhere better then where he had been that's for sure. 

"H-how much longer Billy?" Obi-Wan's voice quavered and he tried to get it under control.

(Fear leads to the Dark side, fear leads to the Dark side) The mantra repeated itself in his head and Obi-Wan didn't even try to stop it. 

There was a pause up ahead and Billy's voice floated reassuringly back to him, "Only around another 15 minutes."

Obi-Wan breathed a sigh of relief. He wanted to get out of these tunnels. Now. 

(Patience Padawan, patience……………Padawan?? What the hell is that???? I wish these stupid phrases would just leave me alone!!) Obi-Wan cursed the thoughts in his head and continued onwards.

Right, left, left, vertical drop – _ouch_, straight ahead, left and apparently the very last long stretch. It was the longest 15 minutes that the boy could remember. After what seemed like eternity Obi-Wan could seen Billy's face, illuminated by the moonlight falling through the open grille above her head. 

(YES!! I'm getting OUT OF HERE!!) Obi-Wan silently whooped and praised Billy's navigating skills. Billy turned back to the boy and laid her finger across her lips. Her eyes told the story easy enough. _Complete silence. Guards could be anywhere._

Obi-wan gave the briefest of nods then crawled up beside her, struggling to fit. As he came up beside her Billy gave him a triumphant grin and together they turned their attention to the grille and removing it. It was easy. Deadly easy. So stupidly simply easy. The guards must have thought that no one could've made it through the maze of shafts and for the most part, they had been right. They just hadn't foreseen the slaves getting hold of their own map. 

Something tugged in Obi-Wan's mind, something was amiss. Whatever it was it wasn't a good feeling. He pushed it aside, putting down to his worry and gave Billy a boost up out of the shaft. She crouched there silently, warily checking out her surroundings like a nervous rabbit. After a good scrutiny around her, deciding there was no danger she put her hands back into the shaft for Obi-Wan to help him out. He eagerly grabbed her arms and Billy was almost fell back into the duct, so unprepared was she for the full force of Obi-Wan's weight. 

He crouched along beside her, his breathing barely even hitched in the effort of climbing out.

Billy using their silent communication, used a hand signal meaning, _Lets go_.

Obi-Wan replied, _Ok. By the way, good navigating_.

Billy inclined her head, _Thanks_. And started jogging off. She made sure that she was silent and tried to keep off anything that could give them away. Obi-Wan took a quick glance at the factory behind him, his home, no his _prison_, for the last 6 months. Without a single thought of regret he turned and abruptly sped off after the retreating form of Billy.

They seemed to have been running forever but when Billy checked her watch it was only 11.45pm. Even so, they would have to speed up if they wanted to reach their destination with time to spare. They would need the time to stow themselves aboard. Billy estimated that they had run about 1km but had another 4km at least to go. She turned back to Obi-Wan just in time to see him trip over something and go sprawling.

(Yep. So much for stealth and silence. Uh huh, I can so see 456 in a job as a spy or some job involves creeping around. Yep, from his performance right there, I'd say that he'd be perfect for it). Billy sarcastically thought while standing frozen in the spot. She searched with her eyes trying to figure out if anyone had heard them. After a minute or so of complete silence, Billy let herself relax and she quietly trotted over to Obi-Wan. The boy looked exhausted. Billy smiled grimly.

_When was the last time you ate?_ She talked to him silently.

_Around 2 days ago_. She had expected no less.

_Here. Eat. We need to run another 4km and we need to pick up the pace_. Billy handed over some food and Obi-Wan practically shoved it down his throat. After about 10 minutes Billy motioned for them to go on.

They had only been running for around 15 minutes when Billy's skin prickled and tingled suddenly. She stopped instantly wondering what was causing the strange feeling. Obi-Wan was about 2 minutes behind her and she waited patiently for him to discuss this strange event. Billy didn't scare that easily and when she had a premonition of something or felt something similar to this it tended to mean bad events. 

Obi-Wan saw the silhouette of Billy standing there waiting for him and urged himself to sprint the last 5 metres between them. He was only about 1 metre away when his skin tingled and sudden pain filled him. He gave a gasp under the sudden onslaught, his knees buckled and he collapsed.

**** 

** Hey! My first proper cliffhanger!! I think.... So do you want to know what happened to Obi-Wan or should i just disappear and leave it for another month? Tell me in a review!! (That's low, i know....)**


	14. In a half forgotten dream

** Well, it worked. I got lots of reviews!! But i won't do that again....soon.**

Kitty:** Please don't jinx me! I have enough bad luck in my life already!!!**

Annabellea**: Well, i've read only one book. Fell asleep in the movies. I don't really like SW but i like the fanfics about them. All your questions will be answered! (sounds mysterious huh?) The devices are made-up, i don't think they're in the books or movie. Oh, the terminator is.....but, ok. I"m getting myself confused....Just read on!**

Culf:** Aww, thanks! *wipes her eyes* Its because of reviews that i keep going. That's all.**

Uh oh. I just finished putting this chapter together and i've realised that there's another cliffhanger. Uhm....sorry? It's got Obi-toture to make up for it!! Sort of....

**** 

_Like a circle in a spiral_

Like a wheel within a wheel

Never ending or beginning

On an ever spinning wheel

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

Billy's eyes widened as she saw Obi-Wan fall and heard his hiss of pain. Almost simultaneously, klaxons started blaring cutting through the night air. 

(No! What happened?? What's the matter? What did we do wrong??)

Searchlights appeared in the distant factory and they started sweeping the grounds and air. At the moment, Billy and Obi-Wan were too far away from the factory to worry about that. As her thoughts turned to Obi-Wan she quickly knelt beside him and tried to turn him over onto his back.

Obi-Wan resisted fiercely, pain like he had never felt before was exploding behind his head, making him arch his back and gasp for relief. He opened his eyes and to his surprise he saw Billy kneeling over him with a concerned expression on her face. After about 5 seconds where Obi-Wan tried to get control of his screaming nerves he realized that Billy was speaking to him. Her eyes were wide with panic.

"456! 456! What's wrong? What's going on? This wasn't on the mainframe was it? What is this? What triggered this? They didn't know what was happening before. What's wrong with you???" She was breathing quickly, almost hyperventilating and with a flash of insight Obi-Wan knew _exactly_ what had happened. He could dimly hear the klaxons screaming as his mind struggled to come to terms with the waves of pain washing through his thin body.

"B-billy. T-tell me……exactly…….what h-happened," Obi-Wan ground out through clenched teeth as the pain continued to scream up his spine like white-hot acid. "This is I-I-important…….w-what h-happened?"

Billy gulped down a breath then with a quavering voice replied, "I was running when I felt this strange sensation on my skin. I stopped, wondering what it was and then decided to wait for you. I saw you coming and suddenly you fell to the ground and instantly at the same time the sirens and searchlights went on. What's going on 456?"

"A t-tingling f-feeling?" Obi-Wan was starting to get his body back under control again. He was getting used the severe pain.

"Yes. Did you feel it to?"

"Yes."

"What _going on???_" Billy's breathing hitched even higher.

"I-I-I t-think……that I s-set off a boundary."

"Why you? Why not me?" Billy didn't understand.

Obi-Wan took a deep breath, to give him control over the pain as well as to give him courage; Billy would have to know, "W-when I was in the m-mainframe I a-accessed our files and d-declared you dead. I d-disabled all your implants so the f-force field doesn't recognize you. To it, you are not a slave…….." he bit back a cry as the pain got a bit worst.

"Then what about you? How come----"

Billy was cut off as Obi-Wan let the words stumble out quickly through his mouth, "I-I didn't g-get time t-to disable mine. That was w-when I was detected. All I managed to do was d-disable the t-t-terminator. Billy, you h-have to leave. You have to go _now_." On that urging Obi-Wan's voice grew stronger. 

"No!!" Billy was shocked at what she was hearing, "I _will NOT_ leave you! Not now!! I can carry you and since you don't have a terminator everything will be fine. 456, everything will be fine." Billy was outright sobbing, her fingers desperately trying to drag Obi-Wan with her. 

"Listen to me!" Obi-Wan's voice cracked like a whip. "I can't go with you, I can hardly walk and the locator implant would give us both away. Y-you have to go. Please go, just go!! There is no point of both of us being caught, what good what that do? P-please!! Just go!"

"NO!!" Billy was becoming hysterical and nothing that Obi-Wan would say would sink in. She was beyond common sense.

"No", Obi-Wan breathed softly, (Then we're both going to die.) "Go, you c-can still make it." Obi-Wan gave a short cry and curled in on himself as another wave of crippling pain lanced through him.

"456! 456! Please don't make me go! I can't. I can't leave you. I won't leave you!" 

Something stirred in Obi-Wan's mind. (What the---?) The boy was startled as a thing uncurled itself in his mind. As he mentally watched it, it turned around and moved jerkily – like a snake that had just woken up. Suddenly, Obi-Wan knew what to do. He mentally grabbed the snake, and threw it like a spear into Billy's mind.

"You will leave and stow yourself away on the shuttle departing at 1am. You will leave _now_." Obi-Wan's voice held a steely quality and the spear smashed through any type of natural shields that Billy might've had erected. Billy's face turned blank and she repeated the instructions.

"I will leave and stow myself away on the shuttle departing at 1am. I will leave now." She then abruptly turned away from Obi-Wan and ran off into the dark forest.

Obi-Wan gave a sigh. (_How_ did I do that? What is wrong with me? I'm a _freak_.) The boy lay twitching on the forest floor when the bursts of pain got too much for his weakened body.

**** 

"Sir! Sir! We've got a breach!"

"What?!? Another one??? Have you even found the reason behind the one 2 days ago?" The senior guard glared at the younger one who was bringing the bad news. 

"Not a computer security breach. A physical breach in the boundary."

"Very well then. You know what to do. Activate the klaxons, turn on the spotlights, send out the guards and release the juanks. Has its pain inflector turned on?"

"Yes sir. The inflector has activated itself on the passing of the boundary and it's beacon show's us that it's stable. I have also done all that too sir, the only problem is……."

"Yes man? Out with it!" The older man looked up with irritation at the younger guard who shifted about nervously on his feet.

"Uhm, Sir, I think you better come and see this."

"Fine!" The man ungracefully pulled himself to his feet, "This had better be good." The warning tone in the mans voice had the younger guard scared. 

The younger man led him to the computer; "You know that the boundary can tell you who has crossed it because of the implants in the slaves bodi----"

"I know this man! Don't tell me you got me all the way up here to give a lesson that I learnt _years_ before you??" The man's tone was contempous.

"U-uh, no sir," the guard licked his lips nervously as he continued on, "Well, according to the computer the slave that's escaped is 456." He paused.

"SO????" The older guard was getting angry.

"According to the computer 456 is dead."

"WHAT???" The older guard couldn't believe his ears, "Well, he _obviously_ ISN'T. If he was then he wouldn't be OUT THERE would he!! How can that be possible?"

"I-I'm not sure sir."

"Get that slave back. I want to know how he did this. NOW!! Don't just stand there! I gave you an order, **DO IT!**" The younger man gave a curt bow and left almost at a run.

Another guard ran up to him, as he was quickly getting ready to go out, "Sir, the juanks have been released. They will find him."

"Good. I don't care how badly the slave is hurt in the retrieval process but we need him _alive_. Understand?"

"Yes sir." The guard bowed and left.

"I look forward to questioning this living dead slave." The guard murmured and an evil smile touched his face. (It's about my turn for fun…….) 

**** 

Juanks. Obi-Wan could hear them. Their snarling and their smell floated to him on the wind. (They'll catch Billy!) The thought struck him like a sledgehammer. He couldn't let them get Billy. 

He heard the snarls getting closer and he forced himself up onto his feet. The pain made him double up and his vision blurred as spots danced about in front of him. Closing his eyes offered no comfort; the spots still remained – dancing on the back of his eyelids. Every step felt like he was twisting a knife within him. (A knife……..a knife. I need a knife…….). Obi-Wan's breath came in short gasps and he had to be careful that he didn't bite the tip of his tongue off, when he clenched his teeth together. (Knife, I need…….a knife.) The boy's thoughts were getting hazy, confusion spreading through his body. With a supreme effort he cleared his head and tried to find the magic switch to turn off his burning nerves. He drew himself upright and allowed his face to screw up every time the pain grew bad. 

He obviously didn't have a knife so something sharp would have to do. (Thorns! Bushes have thorns. There are rocks on the ground.) He bent down and his questing fingers searched the ground until he struck a particularly sharp rock. (It's sharp alright.) Obi-Wan sucked his fingers where he had run them across the edge giving them a light cut. He picked up the rock with trembling fingers and looked at it in the waning moonlight.

(It'll have to do.) Before his courage could desert him, he quickly bent down and holding the rock like a knife he sliced open his leg. He bit his lip at the stinging that it caused but compared to the other pain, it was a relief. He took off his sandals that he had been given to wear and smothered them in the blood that was free flowing from his self-inflicted wounds. He dropped them on the ground then turned to his other leg. This one also he gave several deep cuts and watched, with satisfaction, as it began bleeding profusely. 

He needed blood. Lots of it. Without thinking he held up his arms and gave them deep cuts, then several cuts to his hands. (Don't hit an artery, don't cut open an artery, or else you won't live to distract the juanks.) He chanted in his head as he watched the red life-blood well up and drip off him. 

A snarl cut the air and Obi-Wan stumbled, dropping the rock (No time! No time! GO!!). He could almost smell them, they were so close. Adrenaline pumped through his system and before he even had time to register the pain, he had sprinted off in the totally opposite direction that Billy had taken. As he ran, the rocks cut his feet leaving bloody footprints, and the cuts on his legs smeared their trail on the bushes that Obi-Wan brushed past. He used his hands to push away from trees when he almost ran into them and made sure that he left lots of blood. (Follow me! _Follow me_ you bastard juanks. Follow _my_ trail!)

The juanks had indeed followed Obi-Wan's trail. They were excellent tracking animals and could find almost anything but their only problem was their blood-lust. They went crazy over the smell of blood. If drove them to a frenzy making them forget everything. This is what Obi-Wan had been counting on. If he left enough blood, then the juanks would forget about Billy's trail and just follow him. 

The juanks howled in anticipation as they sensed themselves closing in on the runaway slave. Obi-Wan was tiring, the loss of blood was making him dizzy and as the adrenaline was beginning to wear off the pain was striking at him anew. 

(Keep going, just keep going.) The boy was stumbling frequently now, leaving messy red smears on the ground where he fell. He understood dimly what was happening. The juanks were herding him back to the compound. (That's fine. I'm fine with that, as long as it's _just_ me).

So far the jaunks had been hidden out of sight, but as they grew closer the smell of blood drove them closer. As Obi-Wan ran he could see red eyes watching from the undergrowth. He redoubled his efforts until he felt like his legs would drop off, but no matter how fast he ran, the red eyes kept up with him. He was nearing the edge of the forest when a black being flashed past him, making him trip suddenly. He got up shakily but when nothing jumped out, he forced his leaden legs to keep running. 

He knew that as soon as he burst from the leafy cover of the forest that he was as good as dead.

(So, this is my life. No, this _was_ my life. 6 months of being a slave. No family. No memories.) As the forest grew thinner, Obi-Wan thought of all the things he had done in his life.

(I stood in the rain, I ate a piece of fruit, I smelled a flower, I watched a butterfly, I saw beautiful sunsets, I felt the warmth of the sun, I felt the wind ruffle my hair, I watched the birds fly high above, I watched lightning and felt the vibrations of thunder, I saw the stars twinkle at night, I met Billy.) Everything he listed was undoubtedly simple and free pleasures but also the most beautiful. He slowed down, his breath coming ragged. He had almost fallen to a walk when the beasts lunged out of the undergrowth and snapped at his heels. 

Obi-Wan's eyes opened wide with terror as the primeval instinct of self-preservation took over and his legs forced themselves to run. He flew out of the forest at a dead run and stopped suddenly as a spotlight was instantly trained on him. Dimly he heard a voice as his pupils painfully contracted, trying to deal with the sudden onslaught of the harsh light.

**_Stand still or you will be terminated._**

Before Obi-Wan had the chance to do anything, something barrelled into him, striking him solidly in the back, knocking him over and forcing the air out of already spasmsing lungs. The boy tried to turn over and let go a shriek when jaws painfully clenched down onto his shoulder, breaking the skin, letting more blood flow and coming dangerously close to crushing the bone. He struggled, trying to make the Juank let go but the beast just tightened its grip and tried to fling the boy around, like a dog worrying a bone. Obi-Wan almost screamed as he audibly heard his collarbone snap as the Juanks worried him. 

The Juanks gathered around, excited by the smell of blood and cries of their victim. Another one grabbed one of the boy's legs and tugged viciously. Obi-Wan moaned as he thought he was going to be pulled apart.

(There is no pain……..there is only the F--)

His thoughts were cut off as another Juank lunged at him and sunk it's teeth deep into the boy's side. Obi-Wan truly did scream this time, his cry echoing the night sky. He could feel the beast's teeth scraping along his ribs and cried out as the pressure on his lungs became unbearable.

(There is no death…….there is only the For--)

His world was narrowing once again. The colours were fading. The boy's system was being overridden with pain and Obi-Wan turned his head to face the grass. He stared unblinkingly at the grass and dirt beside his head and watched without actually seeing the bugs crawling to get their fair share of his blood. He realized slowly that the dark puddle around him was his blood and dimly thought that he shouldn't have that much in him. To be precise, he thought he shouldn't have had that much seeping out of him. 

(Is this death?)

The guard who had been enjoying the spectacular sight of Juanks bringing down a boy allowed his grin to fade. He had to get this one alive. If he didn't, his life didn't stand a chance. He wondered if he should just let the boy die and then blame it on the Juanks but decided against it. The guard pulled out a whistle and blew it sharply, signalling the Juanks to back down. Nothing happened. If anything the Juanks were getting more excited. (_Shit_. Not good). 

Obi-Wan allowed his eyes to drift upwards to the night sky, where the constellations seemed to beckon to the severely injured boy. (I a-always……wanted to go……to the s-stars.) The stars twinkled down on him and Obi-Wan closed his eyes. (I wondered if I had a family up there). Another juank grabbed the boy around the hip and tried to drag him off. Obi-Wan didn't even acknowledge the pain; his body was too far-gone for that. He flapped his hand weakly (I…..hope…….B-billy…..got…..away). Obi-Wan opened his eyes once more, but even the pale moonlight seemed to hurt. A Juank placed it's forepaw on the boy's chest and Obi-Wan struggled weakly to pull in a breath. The Juank bent it's head down and growled in the boy's face. Obi-Wan didn't even flinch. In fact, he wasn't quite conscious of his surroundings anymore. The Juank opened its mouth and revealed a fearful set of teeth, which started to descend towards the boy's exposed throat.

Obi-Wan knew the end was near. His eyes took in the stars flickering above him and he felt the scrape of the teeth on his neck. 

Obi-Wan closed his eyes, (T-there..is…no death, t-t-there is…only….the…F-force.) A blast echoed throughout the clearing and the boy lay still.

**** 

**Sorry, another cliffy...Tell me how much you hate them! Also give me a review and tell me how sorry you feel for poor young Obi!**

Also, i ordered in _The Rising Force_** at the library. God, I felt stupid doing that. I guess i should read it.....Is it good?**


	15. Or the ripples from a pebble

Amy:** Sorry about the evil cliffys! ~.^**

Lighted Eagle:**: I like Obi-torture too but everytime I write it I feel sick...**

Culf:** *crumbles while looking at the puppy-dog eyes* Fine, ok.**

Obiwanfan:** Yay! Thanks for reviewing!! I always lurk around people's stories. I'm the one that reads them but never reviews unless it's outstanding. Thankyou for your review!**

Louie:** I'm going to feel even more stupid picking it up. I felt dumb reading **_The Hidden Past_** Only because of the huge print and huge glossy picture on the front.....I kept getting weird stares from people walking past because i'm the type of girl you see reading big thick books with tiny print like __**Lord of the Rings** and the Carmody series. A typical book of mine has around 400 pages. But i'm weird and thats just me!**

Anna:** (You don't mind if i call you that right?) Well, wow. You always have heaps of questions and I love reading them! River and Qui-Gon are clear on another planet elsewhere in the galaxy, so i'm afriad that it's not River to the rescue. Also, I live in Australia. From the time difference you're describing i'm guessing you live in America, somewhere like California? Don't tell me you wait up _all night_ just for me to update???**

Dant:** I will update. I promise.**

Spaz:** What's different about it? To me, it seems really sterotyped. But then again, I still have _slight_ misgivings about this story!!**

Salak:** I've only read _The Hidden Past_. I thought it was alright. Nothing too great, but not bad. My dad hated it!! And he's the SW fan!!**

Jesus Christ!! 13 reviews for just 1 chapter. I must be doing something right! Since you had to endure two cliffhangers in a row. I decided to let you have a longer chapter. I hope you like it...

Does anyone recognise where Mr Bimbo comes from? Heres a hint, think of puppets and treasure....

**** 

_As the images unwind_

Like the cirlces that you find

In the windmills of your mind

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

The guard gave a sadistic grin and congratulated himself as his target blew apart. (Good one Hye'ik. Perfect shot. That Juank would've ripped that boy's throat right off. Not that I really give a stuff about the boy……). He watched as the Juanks drew back, surprise followed by terror in their movements. 

One of the Juanks slunk around the edges of the pack, it could still taste the sweet, coppery taste of blood on it's tongue and it wanted more. Growling, it considered its options and flung itself towards the boy; hoping to bite off a piece, before it too, was blown away.

The guard gave a smug smile as he watched the Juanks rebellious nature. Calmly, he lifted up the rifle, aimed and pulled the trigger. The blast caught the unfortunate beast mid-air and it was nearly spilt in two. As it's halves hit the clearing floor with a wet thud, the Juanks became even more nervous. The guard coolly took aim once again and felled a Juank in the middle of the pack. It had been doing nothing but there is nothing better then striking fear into your opposition's heart to make him bow down. The Juanks instantly lost their urge for blood as the instinct of self-preservation overrode everything else. 

He put the whistle to his lips and deliberately blew it hard and long. The Juanks understanding the signal slunk back behind the boy and lay down. Their eyes were full of hate and fury, thinking that they had been robbed of a kill that belonged to them. The guard gave another arrogant smile and came down from the spotlight tower to the clearing. Along the way he stopped off at a prison cell and randomly grabbed one of the occupants.

"W-What what are you g-g-going to d-do to me?" The terrified slave stammered.

The guard gave an evil smirk, "You'll find out soon enough." Then just to make conversation, "What did you do wrong?"

"D-d-do wrong, sir?"

"Why are you in the cell?"

"F-f-f-fourth escape a-a-attempt sir."

"What, you don't like it here?" The man's voice was full of scorn and dark teasing. The slave didn't answer. "Well, maybe you'll like it better where we're going."

They stepped out into the clearing and were met with low growls from the Juanks, expressing their barely contained anger. The slave cringed and tried to cling closer to the guard. He didn't seem to notice but just kept walking closer. He held the rifle in front of him, his finger on the trigger should he be needed to fire quickly.

He looked down at the boy's pale face. (Shit. He does look pretty bad). He knelt down and pushed his finger up and along the boy's jaw to see if he had a pulse. There! He had one but it was incredibly faint and jerky, his heart randomly beating, skipping now and again.

The slave drew in a breath, "I-is he d-d…….d-dead?"

"No, but he will be if I don't get him back inside the compound quickly. And if he dies, then I'll be in deep shit." The guard looked thoughtfully around and then his eyes came to rest on the slave. The slave gulped and tried to back away but there wasn't really anywhere to back away to. 

None too gently, he grabbed Obi-Wan and heaved him onto his shoulder, but then thinking of the injuries the boy might have sustained repositioned the boy so that he was cradling him in his arms. The boy was amazingly light but being skin and bones the guard hadn't expected much else. 

He turned and started walking quickly back towards the compound. He could feel the boy's blood soaking into his clothes. (How much blood has he lost? There was enough to create several black puddings back there and if he's still bleeding now then I don't give much for his chances getting back to the factory alive) the guard thought worriedly, thinking about the position that that would put him in. He sped up till he was steadily jogging.

"W-what about m-me?" The slaves voice floated over to the guard and he stopped. He turned back and grinned over his shoulder, his teeth glowing in the moonlight making him look strangely vampire-like.

"Sorry, I almost forgot." Still holding Obi-Wan he put the whistle to his lips and blew a pattern. 

Without looking at the slave he kept trotting towards the ever-nearing factory. A scream split the air behind him and he allowed himself a smile.

"Eat up Juanks. There's your trophy." He murmured to himself as the slave's screams, shrieks and pleadings fell on deaf ears. (Got to keep the Juanks happy).

**** 

The doctor sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily as he looked down at the patient that had just been brought in. (They can't be serious…)

"I want him conscious by tomorrow."

The doctor exhaled and spoke slowly, as if talking to a young child, "His body has taken a _lot_ of punishment. He might not even make it through the night."

"You better hope he does doctor. His life is your life."

"You can't be serious! He is only a slave! I am a fully qualified doctor! You need me!"

"That's where you're wrong. We can get any doctor we want, but we _need_ to find out how this apparently amnesia stricken boy has managed to convince the computer that he is _dead_. And then make us believe that _he_ was some _offworld_ company. I think that the computer security breach is a fair bit more important then _you_. Understand?"

"Explicitly." The doctor ground out between clenched teeth, "I will try my best."

The guard snorted, "You better try _better_ then your _best_. If the child isn't coherent when the next sun cycle starts, then you might as well class your life as forfeited."

The doctor watched through slitted eyes as the guard left. As soon as the guard was out of earshot, he let go some horribly foul language directed at God, the factory, the slave masters, the guards, the Juanks and at the boy lying on the bed.

(If the boy is to make it, then I better get started) The doctor was resigned to his fate and started moving throughout the room to get his tools of the trade together. 

It was indeed a long night, the longest that the doctor could remember. Several times during night the boy had nearly crossed over to the other side. Every time, the doctor had _just_ managed to convince his body otherwise.

He depressed the plunger and withdrew the needle from the boy's vein. (There, that should do it) he thought with satisfaction. 

He sat down in the chair beside the boy's bed and waited. As he waited he surveyed his handiwork with professional pride. He had stitched up the boy's cuts and placed bacta on them to speed up the healing process. Many were deep and the cuts on the boy's legs, arms and hands fascinated the doctor. There were clean and almost straight – as if the boy had been cut with a knife or some extremely sharp object. What had bothered him the most though were the jagged tears and deep gashes inflicted by the Juanks. The beasts were notorious for their foul breath and infestive bite. He had cleaned them as best as he could and placed anti-bacterial agents into the cuts themselves but he would have to watch them closely so that they wouldn't become infected. 

He had set the broken collarbone and bound up the boy's ribcage. Although no ribs had been broken, there were many hairline fractures throughout the ribcage. The boy was lucky, the doctor surmised. A bit more pressure and the Juanks would've crushed the boy's fragile ribcage, destroying his lungs and ultimately ending the boy's life – rather painfully. 

When the boy had first come to him, he had been so weak, the doctor was afraid that he was going to lose him to something so simple as blood-loss. As soon as the guard had left the doctor had set up a blood transfusion. He had kept them going ever since and colour was finally returning to the boys face. Although he was still pale he didn't have the glassy, waxen look of those near to death. If anything, the boy's cheeks were gaining more colour – getting a pinkish twinge to his cheeks.

(Anytime soon, should be soon) The doctor waited patiently for the serum he had given the boy to take effect. The boy was out of the danger zone, his vitals had stabilized sometime during the night and although he was weak he wasn't deadly weak. The serum that the doctor had given was a stimulant and would gradually wake the boy up. 

The doctor glanced at the chronometer beside him and was shocked to see that it was indeed the start of the daycycle. He had been with the boy for around 6 hours and hadn't even noticed the time go past. Almost immediately the door to the intensive care unit was roughly pushed open and the guard who had dumped the boy on the doctor strode in. He came right to the point of the visit:

"Is he awake?"

"Not yet but---"

"Do you remember what I told you? I _specifically_ said that he would be awake or else something not-so-nice would happen to you."

"He will wake up soon!" The doctor gulped nervously, the guards here scared him. 

"You better hope so _doctor_." The guard gave him an innocent smile while emphasizing the last word. He sat down and waited.

5 minutes passed.

The guard gave the doctor a meaningful glance and the doctor unconsciously backed away until he felt the wall behind him. The doctor was saved from a messy end by Obi-Wan emitting a groan and trying to roll over. 

The doctor's professional instincts took control and he rushed over to his patient's bed to hold the boy down so that he wouldn't injure himself further. 

The boy thrashed weakly and mumbled, "L-let…..me……. go….." The doctor firmly held on and whispered to the boy, "Wake up. Wake up! You're safe. You're in the hospital, nothing bad will happen to you."

The guard snickered, "Sure, you're safe. Nothing bad will happen to you _for the moment_."

The doctor didn't spare the guard a glance but continuously kept talking to the boy in a quiet, calming voice. 

Obi-Wan tried to open his eyes but they seemed to be glued together. Nothing seemed to work. His voice stuck in his throat and his tongue seemed to have grown fur. As he struggled to get through the gray patch of semi-consciousness, his surroundings become clearer. For a start Obi-Wan knew that he wasn't dead. Death wasn't supposed to hurt this much. He was supposed to become one with the Force.

Obi-Wan mentally sighed, (More stupid repressed memories floating to the surface. So, pray do tell….what _is_ the Force? Sounds like something you would worship. Oh hail ye, the Force has come calling upon us. Us? Thee? Thy?) the boy's thoughts were confused as he tried to reach full consciousness. 

As everything started to become clearer, the full pain of his injuries struck the boy and Obi-Wan let out a small moan and tried to turn over. Secure arms wrapped around him and he struggled weakly. A soothing voice reached his senses and Obi-Wan momentarily stilled.

(Master?)

The voice continued and Obi-Wan forced himself to open his eyes, (_Why_ did I say _that?_ Was I a slave in my previous life?)

The doctor stifled back a cry of satisfaction as the boy opened his eyes. Admittedly, the aquamarine orbs were dull and the pupils were highly dilated, but the eyes focused never-the-less on the doctors face. 

The guard leaned forward and lifted his eyebrows at the doctor, "So, the slave awakes. I will take him now." He got up out of his chair and started towards the boy but the doctor stepped in. He might be ruthless and work only for the highest bidder and do what they say, which was ethically incorrect, but he was still a doctor at heart. He wouldn't let his charge leave until he was, at least, coherent of the world around him and able to deal with the inquisition that he would have to face. 

The doctor scowled, the boy had just gone through hell and now they were going to push him back there. (It would've been more merciful if they had just shot him instead of the Juank.) No doubt they would use his injuries against him in the questioning. The doctor's scowl grew even fiercer. He didn't agree with what they did with the slaves, he didn't agree with the way they were treated but when the decision came down to his life or a slave's life, the decision was easy. He would try to stall for more time but there was no way that he could keep the boy sheltered for long.

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

Obi-Wan squinted, "W-why a-aren't I dead?" The events of the escape were beginning to become clear and he had been particularly sure that a Juank had ripped open his throat. Unconsciously, he brought his bandaged hands up and rubbed his throat.

The doctor gently pulled the boy's hand back down, "The guard shot the Juank before it got to you."

(Did he now? That must be the reason why I have various Juank bites all over me and a broken collarbone and a chest that feels like it's on fire every time I breathe. Gee, well, _thank you_ Mr. Guard for stopping the Juanks getting to me.) Obi-Wan darkly thought but in reality weakly said, "O-ohk".

"So, how many fingers am I holding up?" The doctor got back to his original question, hoping that the boy would get it wrong so he could have a reason to detain him longer. 

Obi-Wan narrowed his eyes, "Two."

The doctor's heart sank, "Correct." He tried again, "Does your chest hurt?"

"Yes."

"In or out?"

"S-sorry?"

"Does it hurt when you breath in or out?"

"B-both."

"Hmm. Thought so. You have many hairline fractures throughout your ribs and sternum. I'm guessing that this was caused by the juanks. You'll just have to breathe light until they heal. You will also not be able to lie on your side or front for a while."

"Oh." (What else am I meant to say? _Thankyou?_)

The guard stepped forward and grabbed Obi-Wan's arm, the boy flinched and then clenched his teeth as the small movement caused pricks of intense pain along the top of his shoulder.

"S-shoulder?" The boy managed to stutter and the doctor jumped in. Gently pulling the guards arm away he said to the boy:

"You also have a broken collarbone. I have set it and the bone-knitting agents have started their work but you won't be able to do any strenuous activity for about a week."

At those words the boy's heart sank. (No one wants a useless slave. Why didn't they just let me die?). The doctor continued now talking to the guard, not noticing the sudden slump in the boy.

"He is still too weak to be taken. You must let him rest here or else you might aggravate his injuries further."

The guard sniggered, "We _want_ to aggravate his injuries further. We don't need your advice doctor. I told you I wanted him coherent in the morning, and he is. Well done. That's where your job ends. It doesn't matter what happens to the slave now so just put him out of your head. I'll be taking him now. The master wants to have a private chat with him about his little stunts on the computer."

Obi-Wan felt the dread slowly creep up on him at the guard's words. (So _that's_ why I'm still alive. They broke the red herring and are going to ask, no, _question_, how I did that. What am I meant to say? Mr Bimbo, the man who lives in my finger did it? _Sure_, 456. They'll believe that. If they have to choose between and that or the truth that I have _no_ idea how I did it, I'm pretty sure they'll choose Mr Bimbo.)

Obi-Wan started as the guard's fingers grabbed harder into his arm and he gave a gasp as the movement caused pain to shoot up his arm and across his chest. He began heaving in an effort to still the pain but that caused his ribs to hurt massively causing even further pain. (Stop….it! Stop…..it!) He chanted but every breath he took to stop the pain made it worst. 

The doctor noticed the boy's distress, "You _can't_! He is in no fit medical condition for the questioning!"

The guard gave another evil chuckle and dragged Obi-Wan ½ off the bed, making the boy let off a cry, "Too bad doctor. By the time we're finished with him, he won't be in a fit medical condition for anything!"

The doctor was horrified at what he was hearing and tried to give the boy one last helping hand before it was taken away from him, "He needs something to help him with the pain! At least let me give him a painkiller!"

"Get stuffed! Let me get this straight. You want to give him a _painkiller?_ When the whole point of us taking him is to question him, using _pain_ if necessary?" The guard threw back his head and laughed, "You must be insane old man!" Before the doctor could retort, he picked the boy up bodily, threw him over his shoulder - eliciting another cry from Obi-Wan and strode out of the ward and down the hall. 

The doctor put his head back into his hands and rubbed his temples. (It's time to get out of this job. Stuff the money.)

**** 

Billy opened her eyes and looked around her in confusion. (Uhm, how did I get here?) She was in the cargo bay of some ship and the boxes were stacked high all above her, totally obscuring her from the view of a passing crewmember.

She groaned and almost physically beat her head against the boxes as the memories of the past 5 hours came into her mind. (456. I left him behind….)

She started panicking as she realised what she had done, "I left him behind. I _left_ him behind! I left _him_ behind! I left him _behind_. **_I LEFT HIM BEHIND!!!_** SHIT!!! How could I possibly do a thing like that?!?!? HOW?!?!?! He was my friend and I left him to be slaughtered. Even worse, slaughtered by the Juanks! How could I? How could I have possibly done that? How can I call myself a friend if I did that to him? HOW??? **WHY???** Why did I leave him behind??" A frown crossed over her face.

"I don't know _why_ I left. I don't know _how_ I left. I don't know how I _got here_." Billy put her head back into her hands and curled her knees up to her chin. "How did I get here? Why didn't I take 456 with me?" She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "Ok, Billy. Let's take this slowly. You crossed the boundary and you were fine. He crossed the boundary and set it off. The pain inflector was activated. You were determined not to leave him behind." She screwed her eyes shut and tried desperately to remember what happened next, "He was talking, saying something and then it's blank. I can't remember _anything!_ I can't remember what happened next. Why can't I remember???" She lifted her head out of her hands and rested it on her knees.

"I woke up and I'm aboard this ship. Ok, lets just forget about the blank part. I wonder if this is what 456 feels like….."She let herself become momentarily side-tracked as she compared her amnesia to Obi-Wans.

She gave herself a mental pinch and continued logically, "So you're on the ship. You can't go back without reporting your presence. Reporting your presence would ultimately end with your death. The crew would kill you and then there would be no chance of returning to 456. So you have to stay alive, if only for his sake. So we come to the million-credit question. _Where_ am I?" She moved slightly was surprised by the sound of paper crinkling in her tunic. 

"Ohhh." She said wordlessly as she drew out the maps that she had totally forgotten about. She soundlessly sorted through them until she got to the one that would offer the most help and read through the words minutely. As she read, she unconsciously muttered and murmured to herself, continuously keeping up a soft sound throughout the reading. The rustling became more urgent as she quickly swapped pages and checked maps. When the rustling finally stopped Billy looked up into nothing, tears glistening in her eyes. 

The ship she was on was called '_Ezra_'; it had left the factory at precisely 1am that fateful morning. It was carrying weapons, destined for transfer at a pre-arranged place in space, which was carefully concealed to avoid detectment from Republic. It would arrive at the next space-port in exactly 2 days – quite a fair distance away from Obi-Wan. The planet that it would stop at was called K'ejuk. The ship was not making a return trip. Or, actually, it would make a return trip but it would return to the factory in a year. 

Billy gulped and tried to keep the tears at bay, "A year. I cannot wait a year to get back to 456. 2 days might be too long – who knows what they're going to do to him. If he is even alive," she whispered brokenly. 

She could not hold the tears back and they flowed silently down her cheeks, splashing to the cold metal floor below. (I'm so sorry 456. _So_ sorry. So _very_ sorry. I'm sorry for leaving you behind. Please, _please_, forgive me. Please………..) she silently begged her conscious as the ship sped onwards, further away from Obi-Wan, unaware of the distraught girl deep within it's metal belly.

**** 

Qui-Gon's head snapped up and his grey eyes flared back into life.

River stopped what he was doing and stepped warily towards his mentor. "Uh, Qui-Gon are you okay?"

For a while, Qui-Gon didn't even acknowledge the young man hovering worriedly beside him but just continued to stare into nothing. His lips twisted and formed, "Obi-Wan!" Just as suddenly as Qui-Gon had snapped to attention he slumped to the ground.

"Qui-Gon! Qui-Gon! What just happened? What's wrong?" River dropped to his knees beside the older man and wrapped his arm protectively around his shoulder.

Qui-Gon turned bright eyes to River and River almost stumbled backwards by the intensity of light reflected deep in the iris of the man's grey-steel eyes. "He's alive!" Qui-Gon breathed the words softly, lest they might shatter reality.

"Alive? Who's alive?" River was confused, things had moved too fast.

"Obi-Wan! Obi-Wan's alive!"

"Oh, Obi-Wan." River forcefully shoved his jealously back in place and tried to sound cheerful for Qui-Gon. "Well, that's fantastic! How did you know?"

As he asked the question Qui-Gon frowned, "I was in meditation just then as you saw….." He trailed off and continued when River nodded in affirmation, "When suddenly something flared in the force. It was like a pulse but stronger, louder." He paused as he tried to get the feeling across to the young man standing beside him. "After the initial pulse I looked closer and although it was slightly different it still had my Padawan's signature. Very faint, but still there. The actual magnitude of the force pulse was incredibly high, almost as if it was trying to break something by brute force. It didn't go along with the flow but sort of against it." Qui-Gon stopped suddenly catching the perplexed expression on River's face.

He sighed (If only I could explain this in simple English), "Imagine a stream." River nodded and Qui-Gon kept up his metaphor. "The stream is flowing gently, constantly in a single direction. There are eddies and swirls but generally everything is going in one direction. Do you follow?" River nodded once again.

"Fine. Then imagine that someone has thrown a rock into the water. This creates ripples does it not?" River nodded this time in irritation, wondering where all this 'stream flowing' business was going to lead.

Qui-Gon sensed his impatience and hurriedly continued (And I thought Obi-Wan had bad patience skills), "The person has thrown the rock in with all the his force possible creating a huge shockwave in the water. Now as the ripples spread, the rock does not sink like a normal rock but continues to move _against the flow of the stream._ This metaphor of going against the natural flow of the water means that whoever dropped that rock did it with the intention to go against the natural flow of nature." Qui-Gon looked up hoping to see the expression of enlightenment firmly written across River's face.

He was awarded with an expression of bottomless uncertainty. "So…………..?" River tried to piece the puzzle together.

Qui-Gon sighed even deeper (Patience, Force give me strength), "It means that Obi-Wan used the force to change someone's mind or make that person go against their original actions and the magnitude of the wave indicates that he made it strong enough to shatter anything in the way – or overestimated in desperation or something."

"Ohh," River made a sound that he hoped sounded like comprehension, "And this tells you that Obi-Wan is alive?"

Qui-Gon gave up trying, "Yes River. It means that Obi-Wan is alive. It also means that Obi-Wan got into a bit of trouble and was forced to use his powers. What I don't understand is why has he been silent this whole time? Maybe his memory returned and he was able to access the Force, but if that is so then why is he not trying to contact me?" Qui-Gon argued needlessly against himself.

River shrugged, "Does it really matter? Just forget about that for the moment. So, now we know that he is alive. _That_ is what matters." River cocked his head to the side and scratched his hair, "Didn't you tell me once that you could contact each other through some mental bond that you had? If so, can you trace him?"

Qui-Gon scowled, "No, I can't feel him again. It's like, after that initial burst he's erected his shields once again. I can feel a sort of after affect but it's pretty widespread and distant."

"So can you feel where he is?" River tried to re-arrange his question hoping for an answer that made sense.

"Yes and no. I can probably give you a general area where it happened but that area is _very_ general and widespread."

"Well, it's a start isn't it?" River made an effort to sound optimistic. He started walking back to ship, "Let's get back on board, pull out the maps and see if you can pinpoint where Obi-Wan is."

Qui-Gon stood up and didn't even stop to dust himself off. River looked at him and couldn't help but let a smile play around his lips. The man's normally spotless brown robes now harboured a two toned effect from the gradual increase of red dust towards the hem. The planet they were currently on seemed to be made entirely out of red dust that stained absolutely everything. River's brown hair had gained a red tinge to it and even his skin had a suggestion of red about it.

Qui-Gon glanced back at the young man and caught his amused expression, "And what are you grinning like an idiot about?"

River coughed and looked away, "Nothing Qui-Gon, nothing. Now, let's check out these maps, shall we?" He quickly changed the subject and strode off and up the ship's access ramp.

As Qui-Gon joined him in the navigation room, River brought up a map of the star system that they were in. Qui-Gon shook his head and River brought up a map that contained the star system that they were in and several around it. They continued this way for about thirty minutes, River using their planet as the centre of an ever-widening circle with an ever-widening diameter. 

"Stop!" Qui-Gon's voice almost cracked and he closed his eyes to check with his memory if it was correct. River obediently froze the computer, catching the map in place. "That's it. It was somewhere in this chart that the wave originated from."

River raised his eyebrow in question at the older man, "The area that you're pointing at is weeks away from where we are. If you are correct that means that Obi-Wan has been almost transported from one side of the galaxy to the other."

Qui-Gon nodded, "I am certain."

River inclined his head, "Can you narrow the area down?"

After about another fifteen minutes the two had shrunk that search area into a respectable size. If it was a circle, the diameter could be described as a week of travel in hyperspace and included around 600 planets, all of which had no connection to the Republic.

River groaned in frustration, "When I said 'narrow down the area' I didn't mean just cut out about 10 planets."

"I'm sorry for _your_ inconvenience River but I told you that the disturbance was widespread." Qui-Gon snapped his nerves frayed. "Since I can't feel Obi-Wan's mind I can't trace it any further."

River wisely held his mouth and carefully thought over his next words. "Well, then. I guess we shouldn't bother continuing in this section of the galaxy. I forward the motion that we move to that area that you picked out. After all, according to your information that is the place where we are most likely to find him, right?"

Qui-Gon nodded slowly, (But what if I'm wrong? And I'll miss the planet that Obi-Wan really _is_ on), "Hang on River. I need to meditate on this. Call me when the sun begins to set."

River barely suppressed another groan, (_More_ meditation? What the galaxy for?!?)

Qui-Gon hid a sad, small smile at River's noisy thoughts, "Because in meditation the Force might offer some assistance or give up an answer." (Obi-Wan always hated meditation and patience testing.)

River started, "What the……?!?!?"

The older man just gave an enigmatic smile and turned to go to his chamber, "Trust in the Force River."

"Sure thing." River muttered. (That's just really _creepy._)

**** 

In his private meditation room Yoda stirred. He opened his almond eyes and stared deeply into nothing.

"Strange, that is. Clouded the future is. Alive Obi-Wan Kenobi is. Drawing near the end of the journey, I feel. Strong in the Force he is."

Yoda gave a shudder, and tucked his arms more closely to his side; as if a draft of icy old air had blasted through the room.

"Qui-Gon reach his Padawan in time I hope. Time to spare, there is not."


	16. Someone tosses in a stream

**Culf:**Nah, i'm not getting tired of you saying that. I love it!! Keep reading!!

**Anna:** Thanks! I need all the support I can get!

**Lighted Eagle:** Hell yeah, there is more Obi-torture. This is where it starts getting pretty harsh for everyones favourite Padawan. As I say below, he cops it in virtually _every_ chapter. And i'm not lying. Caleb's a bastard all right.

**I just want to make one thing clear. I _do not_ like Caleb. Although i wrote his character, everytime I wrote a line for him, i felt physically sick. Especially in the chapters coming up. (You'll understand.) He is the type of person that would call you 'friend' and drape a loving arm around your shoulder while lightly contemplating a slow and painful death for his new 'friend'. And _enjoy_ it. He does make me sick.**

Just a little bit of useless infomation, Caleb means 'dog' in Hebrew. Ezra means 'Hope' in Hebrew. I don't speak any Hebrew except the stuff found in the bible. I am NOT a bible-basher.

Also, buckle your seat belts, I'm afraid that Obi-Wan cops it in virtually every chapter from now on, until Qui-Gon finds him. All you Obi-torture fans out there, especially _Lighted Eagle_** - tune in from now on.**

I take no responsibility for any hate generated towards Caleb. Hey, I'd join the demonstrations against him!

**** 

_Round like a circle in a spiral_

Like a wheel within a wheel

Never ending or beginning

On an ever spinning wheel

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

Billy opened her eyes once more to the drabness around her. (And I thought that conveyer belt duty was boring. I thought that I would've jumped at the chance of being able to sit doing nothing. I'd have thought I'd jump at the chance of getting away from that hell-hole) Billy sighed and dropped her head back down to rest on her chest, (I would. But I never thought that I'd have to pay such a dear price for freedom. If I had've known it would've been this high; I never would've aimed for it in the first place.)

She put her hand in her pocket and took out the rest of the remaining rations. There was only enough for one day, Obi-Wan had half of the rations and she had given him most of hers during the escape attempt. She put the food in her mouth and chewed mechanically not even tasting the food, her eyes were glazed and she smiled as she remembered her joking words to Obi-Wan regarding the food.

_"We have so much mould growing on the food that we're probably carrying enough bacta or penicillin to heal the world!"_

Billy stopped chewing and her face grew sad, "Please let 456 be alright. Oh god, I hope you're alright 456. I'm going to come get you. I'm going to get you even if I have to buy you. That's a promise. YOU HEAR ME??" Billy started shouting, regardless of the consequences, "YOU HEAR ME YOU BASTARDS?? I'm going to come back and take that boy back. That's a promise. A _promise!_ I promise on the grave of my murdered family that I will return and get 456. I swear it, I _SWEAR_ it!!" Billy started pounding on the metal hull beside her, tears streaming down her face. "Just you wait. Just wait for me 456. You have to wait for me, you _have_ _to_. Please wait for me, you mustn't go away. _Please_……….." Billy's rant trailed off as she collapsed to the ground sobbing.

"Goddammit 456. Why did you have to go and leave me? _Why?_ I can't do this without you. This was your idea. It's your idea and you're not even here. 456 why? I hate life's little ironies. I hate life, I hate fate. Why do we always get the shitty end of the stick? What makes you the whipping boy of the universe? 456, why don't I have any answers to these questions? Please, wait for me. If you leave, I do not know what I will do. I've made a promise and _you_ are not going to make me BREAK IT!?!" Billy's eyes flashed and she managed to get her self-pity under control, the latter emotion quickly being replaced with anger and hate. 

"I am going to get you." The girl clenched her fist and vowed solemnly, casting her declaration to the stars.

**** 

Obi-Wan gingerly touched his face, (It's still there, but I wish it wasn't.) His hand came away sticky with blood. (Great, more blood. Just what I need to lose….) His thoughts were scattered to the wind when a fist snapped his head back, creating new star systems behind the boy's lidded eyes. 

"How did you enter the mainframe?" The guard snarled while cracking his knuckles.

Obi-Wan tried to draw in a breath through his broken nose, to no avail, "I told you I don't know."

The guard opted to backhand the boy, slitting open his skin along his cheekbone, "Lying scum! Insolent slave! _Tell ME!!_" The guard screamed in the boy's face, forcing him to close his already swollen eyes. 

"I _don't know!_" Obi-Wan spat the words out, making the guard narrow his eyes. (Oh, good one 456. Make the guard think you're defying him.)

"So you want to play it the hard way huh?" The guard roughly grabbed the boy by his ginger-brown hair and savagely shook Obi-Wan, making him gasp as his broken collarbone grated against bone and tendons. The guard gave an evil smile as he noticed the boy's distress and placed his hand gently upon the boy's shoulder.

"Does that hurt?" He said sweetly and watched gleefully as the boy's face paled rapidly. 

"N-no." Obi-Wan whispered (It's ok. It's all going to be ok. It can't be any worse then the beatings you've had. It can't be any----)

The guard ruthlessly smashed his fist into the boy's collarbone, "DOES IT HURT NOW??? _TELL ME!!_"

Obi-Wan screamed and tried to bite back the bile rising in his throat. His vision blurred and turned yellow but he wasn't offered the grey havens of unconsciousness.

"How did you get into the mainframe?" The guards voice was oily and lethal as he continued to increase the pressure on the offending collarbone.

Obi-Wan was hyperventilating rapidly as he tried to deal with the onslaught of pain. "I don't know! I don't know! I DON'T KNOW!!" Without thinking, Obi-Wan grabbed the guard's arm and rolled himself out of the way, to come standing about three metres away from his torturer. 

The guard narrowed his eyes, "Still trying this the hard way are you? Fine. Let's do it the hard way then." He snapped his fingers and the guards standing in various positions around the room sprang into action. 

They leapt onto the boy, bringing him to the ground and straddling him so he couldn't get up. Obi-Wan looked up as the head-guard loomed over him. 

"Let's see if a beating will loosen your worthless tongue." He gestured to the guards and they dragged Obi-Wan to the side of the room, where they tied his hands around a pillar, with his face resting on the cool concrete and leaving his back open and vulnerable. 

Obi-Wan's heart quickened and he tried to swallow his fear. (Fear leads to the Dark side, fear leads to the Dark side) He had no idea where the saying had come from, but it was as good a saying as any for the current situation. 

The guard cracked the whip just above the boy's head, making Obi-Wan flinch. "Still don't know anything slave?"

Obi-Wan didn't trust his voice to speak and just shook his head. The guard nodded curtly and started on his beating. He didn't hold anything back, and brutally laid into the boy. With each stroke it felt as if someone had laid a burning rope across his back and Obi-Wan couldn't help but gasp every time the whip landed. Time passed and the beating got nastier and more painful. Obi-Wan couldn't stop himself from crying out and despite his broken bones, he would jerk and try to avoid the snaking whip. Each time to no avail. Soon enough, the pillar that he was tied to was slippery and red with his blood. The guard decided that the boy couldn't feel the whip anymore and gave him one last powerful blow before letting the bloodstained whip fall to his side. 

He stood there panting after his exertions and after a while said neutrally, "So, do you remember now? If you tell me now then we won't have to continue….."

Obi-Wan tried to speak, his throat raw after his cries, "N-no sir. I don't know h-how I did it."

Once again, the guard nodded. "Fine then." He knew that the boy was close to fainting and that any more 'strenuous' activity would send him over the edge, making any other methods quite useless. "We'll escort you to your cell and there you shall remain to think over your little mainframe-incident. We will come for you later." The guards who had been watching the beating with curious, amused expressions untied the young boy and Obi-Wan fell to the floor, his legs unable to support him. The guards gave a quiet chuckle at his weakness, then one of them roughly grabbed the boy and slung him over his back. 

The guard carried him to a cell, where all the 'death-wish' slaves were kept. This row of cellblocks was equivalent to death row. All occupants of the cells didn't have much time to live and hardly any of them got out of the block alive and in one piece. It was where the unfortunate 'Juank slaves' were kept.

He opened the door and virtually threw the boy into his cell. Obi-Wan unfortunately landed on his side, the shock jarring his collarbone and making his fractured ribs scream. The slave just lay there long after the guard had gone, too exhausted to do anything. 

(This does not look good). It was Obi-Wan's last thought before he drifted off into the grey oblivion of unconsciousness.

**** 

The guard nervously bowed in front of the master. Not many people were summoned to see the head of the facility and those that did were usually not seen again.

"You wished to see me sir?" The guard was sweating heavily and gulped as the master turned his eyes onto the guards face. They seemed to be searching for something. It was as if the master could see straight through him, into his mortal soul and beyond. 

The master inclined his head, "Yes. I believe that you have retrieved the slave that escaped last night. Am I correct?"

"Yes sir." The guard wondered where all this was going to lead.

"Is he alive?"

"Yes sir."

"Has he been questioned?"

"Yes sir."

"And…….?"

The guard's brow creased. The guards weren't exactly employed on their IQ in this facility. Just having a sadistic nature did the trick, "I do not understand what you mean sir."

The master smiled sweetly, showing all his teeth – just like a shark, "How did the boy access the mainframe? I was told that the mainframe was impentratable, impossible for anyone to enter, let along a 13-year-old boy with amnesia. I need to know if we are liable for someone else to do this. I need to know _how_ he did this act. I need to know now. I need to know if he is a spy sent from the Republic or another company. I need to know how he managed to change files. I need to know how he got outside the perimeter. This building is meant to be a prison, a slave-prison. It is meant to be in-escapable. Do you understand me now?"

The guard swallowed, "Yes sir."

"Good. Now understand this. If the boy does not offer up the information then you and several of your men will be terminated, understand?"

"Y-yes sir." The guard blanched. 

"Good. Don't let me detain you any longer." The master blinked and watched with a predatory smile on his face as the guard bowed, turned about and virtually ran out of the room. He then turned to a man that had been hidden in the shadows. "Now, wasn't that an impressive show?"

The man stepped out of the shadows, smiled and nodded, "Don't be too tough on your guards or anything."

The master sighed and placed his hands behind his head, "Fear is a wonderful tool, used in the right hands."

The man stepped forward and flopped down on the chair next to the master, "That it is. That it is. So tell me, what was all that intimidation about anyway? I gather a slave attempted escape, what's the big deal? As if one slave matters."

The master exhaled and regarded the man next to him with professional ease, "If only it was that easy. According to the computer, this particular slave is dead. Apparently, he went into the system the day before, or a couple of days before – I can't remember; anyway he went into the system. He managed to break the codes, bypass all precautions and enter the mainframe. While in the mainframe he corrupted his file to his own purpose, in other words, proclaimed himself dead but before he could finish our technicians located him and activated the system lockdown."

"Maybe he got lucky?" The man parried with his argument.

"I might have accepted that, unlikely as it might seem, but this next point blows that defence clear out of the water."

"And that is…..?" The man couldn't help himself. He was well and truly hooked onto the story now.

"Just before the system lockdown he managed to lay a false trail, making it look like an offworld company had entered and searched secret files. Actually, to be truthful I thought it was your company for a while." The master laughed and looked at the man beside him. 

"Well, I wouldn't put it past myself to try. So he laid a false trail, that's easy enough to do. All you need is time. I, myself, have done that many times. I'm willing to bet that you also have done it many times."

The master rubbed his eyes and suddenly looked like an old man, "Yes, I have done that many times." His eyes twinkled, "Actually, I've done it in your system many times! But I understand about time and it takes at least fifteen minutes just to lay a bad trail."

"So how long did he have?"

"A minute."

The man sucked in his breath, "A _minute!?!?_ That's impossible!! Totally and utterly impossible!!"

"Yes and this makes it even more impossible."

"Uh huh……?"

"The slave in question has amnesia."

"_AMNESIA?!?_ I'm afraid, friend, that your story grows more outrageous by the minute. How can a mere boy with amnesia do such a thing?"

"I tell the truth! And I do not know. When the boy first arrived, we had a physician check him out to see the slave-lord was telling the truth. It is scientifically confirmed. The boy has amnesia and all he remembers is a brief point of freedom followed by slavery."

"Interesting. Very interesting. So what happens if the boy doesn't or _can't_ provide you with the information you need?"

"What do you mean 'can't'?" The master propped himself up on his elbow and stared at the man seated beside him. 

The man stared back just as evenly, "If the boy has amnesia it is possible that he suffered a memory lapse and did those things unconsciously. Like on automatic or something similar to that."

"Caleb, that is the most absurd thing I've ever heard!"

Caleb shook his head, "No it's not. It happens, it's a documented fact. Trust me on that!"

"What sort of person has the talents to do that on _automatic??"_

Caleb's eyes darkened, "I can think of many friend. You and I for instance are trained to be able to do that."

"Well, yes but a 13-year-old boy? Who trains boys that young to do those tasks?"

"Think, friend. Think deeply."

"Caleb, nothing is crossing my mind."

"Think of the Republic, think of the Senate, think of their 'representatives', think of their _puppets_." Caleb snarled the last word.

The master paled visibly, "No, you don't think so…..That is impossible! You must be mistaken!"

"I do not think so, my dear friend. You know of what I speak."

"_Jedi_." The master hissed the word, his face screwed up into a vehement expression of hate.

Yes, Jedi. They teach boys to do such work."

"But he is a slave! How would a Jedi become a slave?"

"Maybe he is a spy. How can you not be so sure? Maybe his amnesia is all just an act."

"No!" The master was firm with that, "It is not an act. We proved it with the doctors. He truly suffers from that disease."

"Good!" Caleb smiled, "A brain-less Jedi. So, I ask you once again friend. What will you do with the boy if won't or can't tell you the information you seek?"

"I will terminate him." The master stated simply. "Being a Jedi will give me even greater reason to terminate him."

Caleb appeared to be thinking. He looked up and said, "What is this boy like?"

"Huh?" The master was thrown off track, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, what is this boy's personality like?"

"_I_ don't know!" The master snapped, his face still creased with worry lines about just finding out he had a Jedi in his midst.

"Friend, please answer my question. I think I might have an answer to your problem if you help me just a bit." Caleb gestured to the computer on the master's desk, silently asking him to search for the slave's profile on it.

"Alright. Fine." The master replied curtly if not a bit sulkily. He sat up and tapped on the computer for a while then printed out a page. He took it and read it, then read it out aloud to Caleb.

"Slave 456. When first arrived was quiet, reserved and did what he was told. As time went on and he became accustomed to his surroundings he became bolder and more rebellious. 456 is a rebel at heart and just manages to keep it under control. Has fought inmates before and has backchatted guards many times. Attempted escape once. Caught and reprimanded. During reprimanding, still showed signs of rebellion. Precautions installed." The master looked up at Caleb, "That's it."

"Enlighten me once again friend. Why exactly do you have these personality profiles on every slave?"

"Just to keep a record and check out trends on who sells the most rotten slaves and so on. Now, back to you. _Why_ are you so interested in this slave's personality sheet?"

"Because I want him." The reply was so frank that it rocked the master.

"What? You want this slave?? He is a Jedi!"

"Well, yes but he is a Jedi with amnesia. He cannot do anything that a Jedi can do. Besides, according to that sheet it appears that it is time that he became a proper slave."

"A proper slave?"

"Yes. It is time someone broke him. And you know how much I enjoy doing that."

The master internally winced but outwardly his face remained calm, "Yes, I know you enjoy doing that activity. It is your little……….er………." The master groped for an appropriate word that wouldn't offend him.

"Hobby" Caleb smiled widely, "It's my little hobby, and something that I do enjoy. Will you let me have him?"

The master thought hard, (He is a Jedi and I do not want him in my factory. But if I give him to Caleb, the boy will be ripped to shreds by this seemingly innocent man.) The master wasn't fooled. Beneath his calm and decent shell, Caleb was a sadistic animal. (It would be better if I just killed the boy now. But Caleb is one of my clients. I cannot afford to lose him.) The ideals of ethnicity and profit battled in the master's mind with profit coming out on top.

"I will question him first and if he still lives afterwards I will give him to you. Deal?"

"Deal!" Caleb rubbed his hands with glee, "Just imagine! I'll be the first to have broken a Jedi!"

The master tried to hide his feeling of revulsion. Sure he killed, murdered and tortured slaves but he did it for business and did it in the most efficient manner possible. Caleb did it for pleasure. He _liked_ hearing the screams and _liked_ to watch the agony on his slave's faces. But all this the master hid and he replied neutrally:

"Yes, that will be a great happening." While hoping that the boy would die during the questioning. It would be better for him if he did.

**** 

**Remnants**: You signed my 50th review, I was wondering, if you wanted I'd write you a story. Sort of like, '50th review wins!' sort of thing. If you want to take me up on it, send me an email, with what you what written. No smut and no homosexuality.

**PS - the person that signs my 100th review, I'll contact you and write you a little story about anything you want!! No smut. __**Terms and Conditions apply! 


	17. Pictures hanging in a hallway

** I"m sorry but the foreword is really long today. Uhm, deal with it?**

**Culf:** Jesus Christ!!! Far out!! Just for effort, you deserve a story!! I didn't get sick of them and i didn't mind them at all. It was interesting to say the least!! You really want that story huh? It's nice to think that someone likes my writing!! How annoyed would you be if it turned out that you'd counted it wrong and that it was Sethoz that was the 100th reviewer instead of you? 

I"m sorry that you have to wait for each chapter but i think that you should have time for the last chapter to sink in. If i uploaded the whole thing at once, then you'd more then likely end up skip-reading the whole thing.

I think you've watched SW maybe just a little bit too much!! That doesn't matter, I've watched _Muppet Treasure Island_ so many times I can recite the lines and sing the songs off by heart!! BTW, that's where Mr Bimbo comes from.

Why do ppl like Obi-torture? You should ask the people that like it! Like me, i guess. There could be any amount of reasons. The sadistic side of our nature coming out? Our bloddthirstyness, after all we are predators and 'civilisation' can't dampen that instinct down. Civilisation is foreign but killing is not. Jeez, this is deep philosophy. And i'm just meant to be writing a simple fanfic!

No, I don't like SW. The last movie nearly made me throw up. "Oh, I love yu Anakin!" "I love you too Padme." *Roz is throwing up in the toilet*. "Let's get married!" Roz: Gee, didn't see that coming. But when I write, i turn myself into neutral. If i didn't then i never would be able to write all the essays that I have to in school. But I say there was one good thing in SW, the effects were good. But that didn't make the movie good.

You have the longest answer Culf! Enjoy.

**Sethoz:** Well, it moves a whole lot faster. It was towards the end that i was getting sick of writing it so i moved it along quicker. I think it gets worse actually, but my parents were getting on my back about being on the computer all the time. ARGH, don't you hate that? Anyway, I hope you like it!

**Anna:**I LOVE your reviews!! They're so infomative and fascinating!! I know what you mean about computers freezing up, you are forgiven my child! Would I kill off Obi-Wan? The whole story is about him!! It'd be a waste! Well, Caleb sort of hints about Obi-Wan being his 'pleasure slave'. But I just couldn't bring myself to write like that. Besides, if my friends read it, they'd think I was twisted and pornographic. They think i'm weird enough just for writing a SW fic (thats 139 pages long!).

Right country, wrong state. The time thing is weird. You're 6 hours ahead of me but a whole day back. Like i'll upload at 8pm and it'll be 2am at your place but the same day. And daylight savings screws it up even more!! Oh well, the strange thing is that I'm living in the future compared to you!!

I can't believe you wait up _all night._ ALL NIGHT!!! Far out!! Ugh, school isn't going to start here for another 2 weeks. It'll all be up before then because if it isn't then i'm in trouble. Yep, it's the summer holidays over here and i've been spending my 6 weeks alternatively on here and at the beach. I live 2 mins away from the beach.

Enjoy the story, looking forward to more of your reviews!!

**Lighted Eagle:** She's cool. Don't worry, i like Obi-torture too. Don't know why......as long as it's not _too_ descriptive. Enjoy the story!

** This is the beginning of the end, as I see it. Caleb's character also comes out. And I don't like it....**

**** 

_Like a snowball down a mountain_

Or a carnival balloon

Like a carousel that's turning

Running rings around the moon

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

Billy put down the glasses that she was carrying with sighed in frustration. The noise of the drunken drinkers could be heard clearly in the back room and the sound of splintering furniture sent her into a near panic.

She rushed back out into the drinking room, just in time to see one of the men pick up a table and bash another man over the head with it. The unfortunate man didn't see it coming and collapsed soundlessly to the ground. The table was a write-off. The man stood holding the remains of the table and glanced around, his eyes glazed as his body overloaded on alcohol and spice. He stepped forward, swaying slightly and raised the rest of the table above his head.

"No!" Billy screamed and tore over to him, "Put that back down NOW!"

The man didn't pay any attention to the slight young woman but let out an inarticulate roar and swiped at her with the table.

Billy dropped to the ground just in time, and watched helplessly as the man destroyed everything in his path. People, glasses, chairs, tables – it was all the same to him in his highly drugged mind.

(No.) Billy wrung her hands (Not again. I only just finished paying for the last time.)

The incident was suddenly closed as the room was lit up with a flash of light and the man was felled.

"Billy!" The bar-owner's voice was loud and lethal. Billy cringed from her place on the ground then hesitantly stood up.

"Here sir."

"What happened here? I only went out for a while, just to stock up on supplies. Explain yourself." The man's eyes were hard as he surveyed the dishevelled girl.

"I was serving people out the front. Everything seemed normal. I took some glasses to wash out the back and that's when it started. A fight between 2 men just blew up and he grabbed the table," Billy pointed to the now steaming dead man. "He just went crazy with it. I came out and told him to stop but he then went for me. Sorry sir." She hung her head and waited for her sentence.

The owner sighed. He'd thought as much. Kenra-tl had never been able to handle his foreign substances. His eyes roved over the room taking in all the damage. It was considerate. 

Derek wasn't a hard man. He just looked at things from a business angle. (She needs to learn crowd control) He surmised while looking at the slight figure. "There is quite a lot of damage. Since you were on at the time, and failed to control them, I will take the cost of repairs out of your pay." He laid down his sentence and walked over to the despairing girl.

He laid his hand on her arm and whispered, "For what it's worth. I know that it's not your fault. Now lets start cleaning up." He smiled in an attempt to cheer her up. 

Billy nodded and grabbed a broom. As she swept her mind meandered over recent events. It had been two weeks since she and Obi-Wan had attempted escape. She had arrived on this planet 12 days ago. As soon as she had arrived, she knew that she had to get a job. She was going back to get Obi-Wan, but that was impossible without any credits. The day that she had arrived it had been pouring rain. The planet that she was on was a very cold and wet world. Billy had stumbled into the first building she had seen and asked for a place to stay for the night. 

Billy smiled at the memory as she thought what she must've looked like to Derek. Wet, bedraggled, shivering, dishevelled and pathetic were the words that sprung to the girl's mind. 

Derek had taken pity on her and had taken her in for the night. He had then offered her a job as a barmaid the next day. Billy had gladly accepted. 

But this event had set her quite a step backwards. The damage bill was high and it was going to take all her savings and quite a bit more to recuperate the damage bill. 

Billy cursed. (Just when things seem to be going on track, something comes out of the blue and knocks it off.)

Derek watched Billy furiously sweeping the floor. The girl had done wonders for business. He nodded absentmindedly while picked up all the unbroken glasses; he had done the right thing in taking her in. Although at the time, Derek wouldn't have said no to anybody in her position. She had looked like a drowned rat and couldn't stop shivering in the pelting rain. Derek had brought her in and given her a good hot meal. It looked like she had needed it badly.

He had seen the crudely burnt tattoo on her arm. _**970**_. The mark of a slave. It hadn't bothered him at the least. So, someone had lost a slave. Their bad luck. To his credit, Derek didn't believe in slavery and had told the frightened young girl so. He had given her a job and made her wear a bandage over the tattoo. 

People flocked to his bar, just to be served by the pretty, young girl. She was great for business. With her around, the damage bill would be met quickly.

**** 

Qui-Gon looked around him morosely as they took off from another planet. He had decided to journey to where he had felt Obi-Wan and the Force had backed up his decision. 

The Force was elusive when it came to locating his Padawan. It was as if the galaxy had opened up and swallowed the boy whole. The twinges of the Force concerning his Padawan were cryptic and muddled to say the least. 

He pessimistic thoughts were broken as River came to join him, "No luck. Again. The next planet that we're going to is called Rhyuakl. ETA – five hours."

Qui-Gon nodded his head, his eyes watching the star streaks, "I understand, thankyou River."

"No problem." River carefully watched the older man, but Qui-Gon said nothing else.

River left quietly.

**** 

Obi-Wan awoke and wished that he hadn't. He wished he were dead. (How long has it been?) His muddled brain tried to think, (One….no……two weeks. This had been going on for two weeks.)

Two weeks of torture. Obi-Wan closed his eyes and hoped for death.

**** 

Several pairs of analytical eyes watched him. 

"He doesn't know how he entered the system." A man in a white lab coat informed the master who was standing alongside him, his eyes on the crumpled heap on the floor.

"You are sure about this?" The master asked, his eyes still on the boy.

"Yes. He has been given enough truth serum, that lying is impossible. He has gone through rigorous questioning, using pain to break him. If the boy knew, he would tell us. Even the machines pick up the fact that he is not lying. The boy tells the truth when he says he doesn't know how he got into the mainframe." The man sweated while he gave the information to the master. You did not want to upset the master – if you wanted to live.

"Good." The master quickly made up his mind, remembering his deal with Caleb, "I will take him now."

"Now sir?" The man questioned, surprised etched on his face.

"Yes now. His services are needed elsewhere."

"I understand sir. But he will not be functional for around three days."

(Good. That will buy him time.) The master thought but made no reply. 

The door was palmed open and the semi-conscious boy was carried to the master's private room. 

The master called in the droid and asked it to bring Caleb. "Repeat it."

"The master wishes to see you Caleb. The boy is ready to be taken." The droid followed the command and repeated its instructions.

"Good. Leave now." The man steepled his fingers in front of him and was deep in thought when the man in question stepped in through the door. He didn't even look up but said, "There he is. You may have him. Our business is done now – let us take our leave of each other."

Caleb didn't even notice the clinical tone in the master's voice but was entranced by the sight of the bruised and bloody boy in front of him. "He's……….beautiful." He whispered reverently and continued in the same breath, "You didn't tell me how beautiful he is. Perfect bone structure, the lean muscles beneath the rippling skin. He is a truly magnificent animal."

At those words the master's ego rebelled, "I didn't tell you because you are a psychopath!" The words were out of his mouth before he realised he had said them.

Caleb didn't even notice but continued to stare at the boy, "Thankyou for such a wonderful gift friend. I do not know how to repay you."

The master waved his hand in hopelessness, "Just take him and go."

Caleb's eyes glowed as he reverently picked the battered boy up, "Yes. I will talk to you later friend." He turned to a droid beside him and snapped out a string of commands. He followed the droid out and the master watched with leaden eyes as the door shut behind him.

The master sunk into his chair, feeling infinitely older then he really was. (The boy is doomed. He just should've died.)

**** 

It had been a week since Obi-Wan had been transferred to Caleb's care. After the initial healing period that he had gone through he realised what an animal Caleb was. The man himself didn't seem that bad but his actions spoke louder then any words. And they were cruel.

He was standing listening with half an ear while his new master laid down the rules of the house.

"You will kneel while in my presence. You will not speak to anyone else except me, your master. You will call me master when you speak to me. You will not speak to me unless I command you to speak. You will do everything that I say. _Everything_. If I tell you to jump, you jump. If I ask you to execute someone, you do it." Caleb carefully watched the boy's expression at his last command. As he expected horror and rebellion flashed across its youthful features.

"I will not." The slave spoke vehemently.

"Careful. You just broke several of the rules." Caleb nodded to the guards around him and they laid into the boy with pleasure; bringing him gasping and retching to the ground. "Now, I do not like using such…….er…..drastic tactics, it does seem so……primitive, but I will do so to control you. Besides, if you do not execute the slave, I will personally take the slave and torture him slowly to death – and I will make you watch as his pain-filled screams fill your ears and his eyes slowly lose their light." Caleb shrugged as if the issue didn't bother him, which it didn't. 

Obi-Wan looked up to see if Caleb was telling the truth and what he saw made his stomach churn. (He would do it, and he would _enjoy_ it.)

"Eyes boy." Caleb whispered a warning.

Obi-Wan obediently lowered his eyes. 

"Good. If you break the rules you will be severely punished. Understand?" Caleb asked.

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Yes……." The young Jedi paused, the rules chafing against his spirit, "……_arsehole!_"

Caleb's eyes flashed and he saw red, "Guards. Reprimand the young slave." He turned abruptly on his heel and strode swiftly away down the hall.

Obi-Wan's heart leapt and the cold fingers of fear started to curl around him as the guards gave a evil crackle and crowded around the young boy.

Caleb gave a grim smile as he heard the screams coming from down the hall he had just left. He pushed off the wall that he had been leaning against and continued on his journey away from the cries of pain from the young slave.

"The boy will learn."

**** 

Caleb gazed at the boy kneeling in front of him with an expression between curiosity and impatience. The boy had refused to do anything that he said. 

(Good. This will make it more interesting.) His smile grew wider and his teeth gleamed white. 

(His canines make him look like a vampire.) Obi-Wan wearily thought.

"I tire of your antics boy. When will you learn that you must follow my orders and obey every word that I utter?" Caleb threw his hands into the air for emphasis and glared at the boy protestingly kneeling in front of him.

Obi-Wan threw his angry eyes up onto the man above him, cursed and shouted, "I will never listen to you! You are a sick, pathetic, sadistic animal. The world would be such a better place if someone shoved a goddamn knife through your stomach!" The boy stopped suddenly, shocked at what had just erupted from his mouth. His face became grim. (There, I just told you what I think of you old man. Let's see how you take it. The worst you can do is beat me even more.)

An expression of rage rushed furiously across Caleb's face but he calmly said, "Bring in a slave."

The guard stepped forward confused, "What slave?"

"ANY SLAVE!" Caleb screamed, his veins standing out.

"Y-yes sir!" The guard saluted hurriedly and went outside. Ten seconds later he had returned with an older male slave in tow. "The slave you requested sir."

Obi-Wan watched the proceedings with a confused and slightly suspicious air. (What is the meaning of this?)

Caleb sneered, "Now, you will begin to learn the consequences of your actions."

Obi-Wan frowned, then an expression of horror flitted across his youthful features. (No. Oh god no, he's not…..he wouldn't!) Before the boy could react Caleb had grabbed the guards blaster and shot the slave through the stomach.

The slave gasped and sunk to his knees. Caleb grabbed the mortally wounded slave by the hair and roughly dragged him over to the still-kneeling boy.

Caleb smirked, "The wound I have given this slave is mortal. Unfortunately for him, it is also a slow and very painful wound. He will die slowly and in great pain my young friend." The slave in question was desperately trying to cover his wounds with his hands while screaming in pain. 

Obi-Wan's heart wrenched and his stomach dropped out as the dying slave's eyes focussed on the young boy. "Why……?" The slave's lips formed the question and he gasped it out between his cries.

"I'm sorry……" It was all that Obi-Wan could think to say. Caleb thrust the dying slave's head into the boy's lap.

"You will hold him until he dies. You will live knowing that you were the cause of an innocent slaves death." Caleb sneered, playing on the boys empathy, "You will live knowing that the last thing that this slave sees is your face. The cause of his death." Caleb left but before he exited the room he spoke ominously, his voice smug:

"Maybe next time, young slave – you will listen to your master."

**** 

(Screw this!) Obi-Wan thought once more as he surveyed his surroundings. It had been about two days since the murder of the slave and Obi-Wan had tried to do what Caleb told him, but everything the man said just grated on the boy. 

(There's no way that I'm going to be able to do what he says. If every time I resist he kills a slave then I guess I've only got one choice. Leave.) Obi-Wan smiled grimly as he continued to viciously scrub the ground beneath him.

For another two days he planned his route carefully and that night he left.

Three hours later the guards dragged him back.

**** 

** C'mon! Review or else you won't find out what happens to poor _young_ Obi-Wan Kenobi!!**

I can't believe that I got over 100 reviews! Thankyou to all you beautiful reviewers out there!! I LOVE YOU ALL!! From now on, I swear I will review every story I read. You guys mean so much to me!! *starts sniffing*** Oh! Thankyou so much, thankyou so so much!! ***starts bawling*** I LOVE YOU!!! ***starts to calm down*** And may the Force be with you....***mutters*** I can't believe that I just said that.....**


	18. And a fragment of this song

**And finally, the breakthrough that everyone has been waiting for!**

Anna: If you thought that was scary, keep watching. I'm afriad it gets worse for Obi. I'd have to agree, Orcs are probably nicer. Uhm, broadly speaking she will run into Obi again. You'll see in this chapter. Well, River does get the last say in Caleb's demise. But since River follows Qui he would uphold the Jedi code, even though he is not a Jedi.

To break a Jedi, is like breaking a person - you just need time. But will Caleb have enough time? I'm sorry that that chapter was short, this one is short too but everything happens to quickly and it's hard to sort them out. Enjoy school!

**Culf:** I never said they were sadistic. I'm not sadistic (i hope!). But the strange thing is that it's peoples fave character that ends up with all the torture - have you noticed that? It's weird huh? When you find the answer, tell me!

**bored2death:** Yeah, trust me, i know it's long!! I wrote it - it took me like 2 months to write. But once i started, i couldn't finish it quick enough. It is the longest thing i've ever written. I'm sorry for all the pain i put Obi through. I know he's only a kid, but I don't know....It is really mean of me and I apologize.

Yeah, I notice the spelling mistakes too but most of the time I"m too late to rectify them. Now, i proof-read the chapter twice. Thanks for your review!! Hope you continue to like the story!

**Now, I know that this chapter is pretty short so I decided to put two up together. That okay by everyone? Let's begin!**

**** 

_Like a clock whose hands are sweeping_

Past the minutes on it's face

And the world is like an apple

Whirling silently through space

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

River paused before heading up the ramp to give Qui-Gon the bad news. (Nothing once again. This would have to be the worst part – having to be the messenger of doom. Just once, you know, just _once_ I would like something to go the right way. Would it be so hard? Would it really be too hard? Just _once_.) How many planets would he go to just to deliver the same news? Rhyuakl had turned up nothing. Just like Y'lk and Jahsl and Hwalk and the countless other planets that they had gone to. And now K'ejuk had given him the same answer. It was just so _infuriating_. The young man sighed and continued on his journey.

Qui-Gon was sitting where he had left him earlier that morning. The man was getting worse everyday. The bags under his eyes and the hollows in his cheeks were more pronounced. The general air of defeat and despair floated around him and River couldn't help but swallow nervously before approaching the man. 

"Yes River?" The man's voice echoed around the room and River unconsciously jumped. (The boy really needs to keep his thoughts quiet. Obi-Wan was pretty good at that……..at times…..)

River jumped, startled, "Er, Qui-Gon. Bad news." (How does he bloody do that?)

The older Jedi seemed to sink even lower, "No sign of him?"

"No. But I think that we should eat on this planet before we leave. We need the rest and you need the food. I'm afraid my cooking isn't all that great and you wouldn't be all that great a help to your Padawan if you died of malnutrition along the way…" River played for time, he knew the man was near breaking point and needed time to recuperate.

Qui-Gon ran his hand through his hair and sighed deeply, "I understand your concern River but—"

River cut him off, "No buts Qui-Gon Jinn. You will eat first."

Qui-Gon turned to look at the young man and smiled grimly (I'll never be able to get over the fact how much River looks like Obi-Wan.) He glared at River for a full five minutes but with River showing no signs of backing down he crumpled, "Okay then. Fine. We eat first. Where?" The tall man stood up to get his robe but River handed it to him.

"Take this robe Qui-Gon. It is raining heavily outside. There is a bar not far from here. I hear that they make good food and the entertainment is even better." River led the way out and both men put their hoods up for the futile protection it offered against the torrent of rain.

Five minutes of walking in silence found them at the entrance of a bar. There was light and life inside and it as soon as River opened the door both men were struck at the noise coming from within and how quickly it stopped as the patrons watched the newcomers enter.

"Uh…..hi." River waved his hand lamely and watched with relief as the customers returned to the meals and drinks. He turned to Qui-Gon to say something but just the expression on the big man's face stopped him. 

Qui-Gon turned slowly, his face full of emotion. Amazement, disbelief, horror, terror, anxiety and hope all flew across the man's face and finally settled on neutral.

"Qui-Gon? Qui-Gon? Hello….?" River nudged the man gently, afraid that he was going to fall over. Qui-Gon snapped out of his trance and sat down heavily on a chair near the bar.

"River. I think I…." The older Jedi stopped, uncertain how to continue on.

"Yes?" The young man pressed.

"I can feel a trace of my Padawan's signature."

"WHAT?" River was amazed then hopeful for the older man. (Yes! Thankyou!! _THANKYOU!!_ Just one thing! One thing!)

"It's not strong though. It's---" The older man stopped to watch a young woman walk pass holding several piles of plates.

River watched the young woman pass as well, entranced by her beauty. (The entertainment…….Oh. I get what the men mean now…….) She was slender but not skinny. Long hair fell to the middle of her waist, black fading to brown. Her dark brown eyes were framed by thick, long black eyelashes. Although she wore no makeup she was stunningly beautiful. Just as the girl walked past River she caught sight of him and stared.

Her eyes flashed with something close to recognition and her lips opened. She half turned towards him, and then tripped over, her plates and cutlery crashing to the ground around her.

Before he knew what he was doing, River had leapt up and was helping the girl gather up her fallen load. He grabbed her gently by her arm and she turned swiftly on him. Before the young man could do anything, she had grabbed his head in a firm grip and kissed him on the forehead. River was stunned and just mutely sat there as the girl gabbled.

"456! 456! You made it out!! How did you do it?? How did you get here? OH MY GOD!! You're here, you're here. I can't believe this, you're really here. I had thought that I had lost you; I'd that I'd never see you again. Don't scare me like that again. Don't you ever do that to me again. Ever! Do you understand?" The girl twisted his head so the light fell onto River's features and the girl gasped, dropping her hands as if it physically hurt to touch the young man. She stepped back, horror clearly written on her face.

"No! No…. it's ok, just relax." River tried to calm the young girl as she inched backwards – getting ready to run.

"You're not 456…..you're……not……him….." Billy was terrified. She turned and started to run but smacked solidly into a tall man who had taken place behind her.

"I think we need to talk young lady."

**** 

Yoda sleepily opened his eyes and his ears twitched. Getting up from the meditation mat that he had been kneeling on he ambled over to the comm.-link on his desk. Pressing a button he spoke quickly into it.

"Master Mace, send me."

The answer was garbled but seemed to please the ancient master.

A couple of minutes later Yoda's door whooshed open and a dark-skinned human entered.

"Master Yoda." Mace bowed and stood before him, "You requested to see me?"

"That I did. To the planet named Jabez you will go. Take my ship you must, also take skilled healers you will. Bacta tank, make sure the ship has."

Mace's forehead wrinkled as he tried to work out the reason behind such a command, "No offence Master Yoda but why?"

"Tell me the Force did. When you arrive, the Force follow you must." Yoda's answer was simple but meaningful. Mace bowed and took his leave.

"Depend on him, so much does." Yoda murmured and took back up his position of meditation. 

No matter what the small master did, he could not find his centre.

**** 

Billy put her head in her hands and sobbed miserably. River inched over and hugged the girl close. Everything had moved too fast.

"---therefore you must understand why I need your help." The Jedi called Qui-Gon finished and looked awkwardly at the crying girl. "Billy? Do you understand what I'm saying? I know that this is hard on you but it's hard on me too….." Qui-Gon leaned closer to the young woman and gently placed a large hand on her shoulder, his fingertips coming to rest on the white bandage hiding her tattoo.

"Ease off Qui-Gon. Can't you tell that she's shocked? Give her some time!" River snapped while holding the fragile girl close to his breast.

"No…..no, he's right." Billy sniffed and pushed herself away from River.

"Yes, I do know what planet Obi-Wan was on. It's two days travel away from here. It's called Ladle-ere." Her eyes snapped up and locked on the older Jedis. "We need to go now. 456, I mean, Obi-Wan was caught while trying to escape. I'm afraid unless the Juanks didn't rip him apart, he would've been executed for his attempt."

"No." Qui-Gon's voice was firm. "My apprentice is alive. The Force would've told me if he had've died."

"The same Force that told you that I knew Obi-Wan?" Billy inquired, her brown eyes lit with curiosity.

"Er…..yes. Broadly speaking." Qui-Gon waved his hand.

The feeling of his Padawan's signature was unfortunately not his Padawan itself but the residue of his Padawan's touch on Billy's mind. Qui-Gon had found out that while Obi-Wan had been coercing Billy, Obi-Wan had unwittingly left his mark on her. It had been the breakthrough that both men had been hoping for. 

It had been a learning curve for Billy. She had found out that the boy that she had worked beside and become firm friends with was actually a Jedi. (Well, that would explain the mind trick) She thought wryly. In the matter of an hour she had found out all about 456's previous life and she had found out his name. Obi-Wan.

"Obi-Wan" Billy tried the word and liked it. (It suits him. In some strange way – I think it suits him.) She glanced at River sitting protectively close to her. It was amazing how close he resembled the boy that she had left behind. It was downright _creepy_.

"What are we waiting for?" The girl demanded. "You want to find him, I know where he is. Let's go."

Qui-Gon nodded in assertion, "Yes. Let us go."

River grinned from ear to ear and looked at Billy with a expression akin to worhip in his eyes, "Yeah. Let's get going. We didn't get to eat, but after finding you, I don't think we need to bother!"

Billy blushed but didn't shy away. Qui-Gon hesitated and smiled uncertainly as River's thoughts broadcasted themselves to the world. (Something about a pretty young girl on the same ship as him…….) His grin grew wider as he heard Billy's. (Something about a handsome young man on the same ship as her……...) 

He left the table whistling softly and smiling. (Things are certainly looking up for us. Soon, maybe soon we will find him.)

**** 

(Right. That's it. Patience – gone. Anger – high. Anger – forbidden. Impatience – high. Diplomacy – out the window.)

Qui-Gon slammed his hands down on the master's desk and looked deep into the man's terrified face. "I am a Jedi Master. No doubt you have heard of us since you arranged such a welcoming committee for us." The older man let his eyes sweep over the ravaged room, dead and unconscious guards included and trained his eyes back onto the master.

"I will ask you one more time. _**Where is slave 456?**_"

River smirked. (That's more like it. Actions speak louder then words.) He easily held in one hand a vibro-blade and in the other – a blaster. He had been with Qui-Gon when the welcoming party had…..er……. 'welcomed' them. It had been a short party to say the least.

"He…..he…..he isn't here anymore." The master stuttered.

"We know that. Where is he?" The Jedi Master's voice dropped and the tension in the room rose dramatically.

"He….h-he….Caleb took him!!" The master's eyes darted everywhere but at the Jedi in front of him and his voice grew higher in pitch as fear overtook him.

"Caleb?"

"Yes Caleb! Caleb is one of my clients. He heard about the boy and what he was and he wanted him."

"Where is he?"

"J-Jabez."

Qui-Gon nodded then docilely placed his hands into his sleeves, "Thankyou for your time and help today. The Senate appreciates it, just as I do."

Then just like that, the two men left.


	19. Half remembered names and faces

**This chapter is pretty gruesome for Obi. I'm just warning you beforehand. I'm wincing for our poor Kenobi. People that are faint-hearted, look away now.**

**** 

_Like a tunnel that you follow_

To a tunnel of it's own

Down a hollow to a cavern

Where the sun has never shone

**The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

Caleb paced backwards and forwards in front of the beaten boy. Obi-Wan looked up at him with rebellion fierce in his eyes. He wiped away the blood that flowed freely from his nose and panted as he tried to get his breath back from the guard's 'roughing up'.

"So you don't like my domain huh?"

"No! I don't!" Obi-Wan spat back and was rewarded with a vicious kick in the ribs that sent him sprawling.

"Careful boy. Or else I'll take your tongue."

Obi-Wan wisely decided to be quiet and just watched Caleb pace back and forth, back and forth. He was starting to drift off when Caleb's question came out of nowhere.

"Why do you even bother resisting?"

"Huh?" Obi-Wan couldn't follow this line of questioning.

"All you are is a slave. Slave 456.

"You think _I_ don't know that?!?" Obi-Wan shouted angrily and tried to get up but was held in place by the various guards around him.

"What did I say about your tongue boy? Why do you even bother resisting? You're going to stay here for the rest of your life – you might as well get used to it."

"I _will not_ stay _here_ for the rest of _my_ life." Obi-Wan snarled.

"Oh, such resolve for one so young. What makes you think not?"

"I _will_ escape."

"And how may I ask?" Caleb was enjoying this. The boy was playing right into his hands.

"By using my feet. I will escape from here, on feet, by air, by sea just by any means necessary."

Caleb made a pretence of scratching his chin, "We-ell, yes. But how can you wish to escape if you can't move?" He looked down at the boy, an evil smile gracing his lips.

Obi-Wan felt a chill roll down his spine and his stomach churned uneasily, "You would not paralyse me because you need me to work. A slave that cannot work is a useless slave and isn't worth buying or selling. You cannot make a profit on a paralysed slave."

"Oh, true. Very true my young slave, but you are wrong about one thing," Caleb purred and traced his finger around the bruised and bloody boy's face, "You can disable a person without paralysing them." He licked the blood off his finger with a thoughtful look on his face and a misty look in his eyes.

(Oh no. What is he going to do?) Obi-Wan started panicking.

"So you value your _chance_ of escaping boy? Is that what sustains you through this 'hell-hole'? That is your hope? So what would happen if I placed precaution devices in you?"

Obi-Wan smiled maliciously (So, that's what he's thinking of doing – I can handle that) "I would find a way to disable them, after all, they are only pieces of metal. I almost did it before." Obi-Wan allowed himself a triumphant smile at the thought of his handiwork with Billy's devices.

Caleb regarded the boy and saw the expression of triumph flash over his face, "So. Precaution devices would just be a waste of time and money then?"

Obi-Wan nodded.

"Well, then. I had better cross that off my list. Now, how to hold you my young slave?" Caleb played with the boy.

"You _won't_ hold me." Obi-Wan stated.

"Really?" Caleb raised his eyebrow, "I do beg to differ. After all, I have managed to hold over 4000 slaves _just like you_."

Obi-Wan winced, "Well, you're wrong."

"Well, let's have a little wager. If I manage to keep you, you'll stay my slave and if you manage to get away, I'll hunt you down wherever you may go, make you die a most painful death and you'll still be my slave. I'd say it's a win-win situation for me, any way you look at it. If you escape, it will just make it more interesting." Caleb ticked the conditions off on his fingers while gleefully watching the boy.

"That's not fair!"

"Life's not fair my dear boy. But let's get back onto the main subject. How to keep you?"

"You _won't_ keep me!"

"So stubborn, aren't we? Anyway, back to what I asked you. So, it's hope that keeps you going? The hope of one day escaping, of finding your _family_ and finding your _identity?_" Caleb drawled the words sarcastically.

Obi-Wan flushed, "Yes. Is that what you wanted to hear? Yes, it is the hope of one day escaping and being away from _you_ that keeps me going."

"You want to keep your tongue boy? Well, well, well. Most interesting. So therefore, to keep you I must destroy that hope."

Obi-Wan opened and closed his mouth but no sound would come out. (What is he thinking?)

"No argument? No debate? Well, it's settled then. I must remove your hope for leaving. And since the only to stop you from leaving is to immobilise you, that is what I must do." Caleb clicked his fingers and a guard stepped forward with a serrated knife.

"B-but you can't! I'd be useless to you!" Obi-Wan shouted and tried to quell his ever-rising fear.

"As I said before my dear slave, there are ways to immobilise people without crippling them – if you know the ways." Caleb winked and nodded his head at the guard. The guard stepped forward brandishing his knife but Caleb stopped him with a click of his tongue.

Caleb appeared to be thinking. He looked at the boy then at the guard with his head cocked on the side and opened his hand, "Give me the knife. I will do it myself. That way I know that there will be no mistake."

The guard gave a curt nod and quickly handed over the knife. He gave a bow and stepped back. Caleb bent down to the boy's ear and whispered, so only he could hear him, "Give me your word that you will not attempt escape again and I will not have to go through with this."

Obi-Wan visibly flinched as the man's warm breath floated past his ear and his hair brushed across his bruised face, "No." He also replied quietly just so Caleb could hear.

Caleb rocked back on his heels and grabbed the boy none too gently by the chin, "Too bad. But then, with you 456, I didn't expect you to back down. Your pride may be your folly." He traced the knife gently across the boy's features, "I'm giving you one more chance. Give me your word and you can be _my personal_ slave." As he spoke he brought his other hand up and brushed his hand through the boy's hair.

Obi-Wan was shocked then recovered himself. He spat in the man's face and whispered fiercely, "Never. You make me _sick_."

Caleb's face gave a little twitch and an expression of rage flitted across it. He then controlled himself and forcefully pasted a neutral expression on. He gave a small grin as he wiped the boy's saliva off his face, "So you have decided my slave. So be it."

Obi-Wan wasn't prepared for the onslaught. Caleb's small frame and docile words belied the vicious, vindictive and overall powerful nature. Obi-Wan had always thought that Caleb was a weakling. He was wrong. What he had witnessed was the velvet glove. He was not prepared for the iron hand.

Caleb spun around and kicked the boy in the face making Obi-Wan go sprawling onto his back. With a snarl, Caleb kicked the boy onto his front, grabbed him by the hair and straddled him on his back. Obi-Wan futilely tried to struggle, but Caleb was strong and wiry and the man's weight and thighs kept him firmly pinned to the ground. At the boy's struggles Caleb tightened his grip on the boy's hair and smashed the boy's head repeatedly into the ground until his struggles began to weaken.

"Anytime you want to give your word, I will listen." Caleb's eyes misted over and he shook his head, "Actually I take that back. I'm having too much fun to take your word. I'm going through with this, no matter how much you give me your word." He laughed maniacally and gestured to the guards.

Obi-Wan's head was spinning and he could feel blood flowing from a split temple (What is he doing?) He didn't even realise that Caleb was no longer holding him down and in his place were about 4 guards. Each of them had chosen either a wrist or leg to stand on and there was no way that the boy could move. He felt incredibly vulnerable as he was kept in the spreadeagled position. "L-let me go!" He managed to get his mouth to work but the overall effect was lost as the floor muffled his words.

"I think not, my dear boy." Obi-Wan tried to twist his head around to see Caleb who was crouching down near his feet. "Time to clip your wings little birdie." Obi-Wan felt the cold blade on his ankles and his heart started hammering madly. 

(Oh god. No. He's not going to do what I think he's going to do. He can't! I'll be crippled for life!! No, no, no! He can't! He won't, he doesn't want to los----)

Caleb gave an evil crackle and shoved the blade deep into the boy's ankle, severing his Achilles tendon. Obi-Wan jerked and his face went white as he tried to get away from the blade. "NO!!! STOP!!! I give you my word! I give you MY WORD!!" Obi-Wan screamed the words as the pain blossomed and he could feel the blood running down his leg.

"Didn't you hear me dear boy? I'm not taking your word any longer. This is much, much, _much_ more enjoyable." Caleb vindictively twisted the knife, making sure that the tendon would never heal properly. Obi-Wan gasped as he felt his ankle go slack. He tried to cry out but was stopped as a guard bashed his head into the ground.

Caleb snapped his head around to stare at the offending guard and hissed, "Don't do that again. I want him to be conscious to realise the decision that he has taken. I want him to _feel_ the pain."

The guard paled and stepped back into the shadows with a stuttered, "Y-yes sir."

Caleb turned back to the slave sprawled beneath him, "So now the little birdie wants to change its mind huh? Well, it's too late for that, my fair slave." With that Caleb roughly jerked the knife out of Obi-Wan's left ankle and thrust it deeply into his right. Caleb was panting and his eyes were bright with excitement as he felt the blood well up and flow around and through him fingers. He twisted the knife, and smiled while hearing Obi-Wan's screams. Making sure he had fully severed the slave's Achilles tendon on his right foot, he mangled the boy's foot not stopping until the ankle was just a mass of blood and torn muscle. He returned to the left foot and did the same thing. Sometime during the 'operation' of the right foot the boy had passed out and the room was deathly silent, except for the panting of Caleb. 

Finally, Caleb let the bloodstained knife fall from his hands and he stood up and surveyed his handiwork. There was no way that the boy would be able to walk properly, let alone run. 

He was crippled for life.

(There are times when one throws profit out the window, in preference for pleasure) Caleb thought and absentmindedly rubbed his bloodstained hands down his trousers, trying to smear the red liquid off.

He took one last look at the boy lying unconscious on the floor with the blood pooling around his ankles and gave a wide smile. He turned to the nearest guard and said, "Take him to the dark cell, bring the doctor in and make sure that the tendons will never heal properly."

The guard inclined head, a little confused, "Yes sir."

Caleb walked out of the room, whistling softly and murmured to whoever was listening, "Sometimes, I really love my job."

Just to give the cleaning slaves grief he made sure he left bloody smears down the corridor walls as he walked past.

**** 

River plotted their course on the computer and sighed deeply when he found out how long it was going to take them to reach their destination, Jabez.

3 weeks. 

The planet was clear on the other side of the galaxy, virtually in a whole new galaxy of its own. 

Billy watched River. She had joined the entourage telling Qui-Gon that she was not going to give up half way. Especially not after she had made a certain promise. Qui-Gon had no objections, especially when he saw how much River cared for the young girl. And the young girl, vice versa. 

Qui-Gon entered the navigation room and sat down next to River. "How long?"

(The one good thing about Qui-Gon is that he doesn't beat around the bush at all.) River grimaced, "Three weeks."

Qui-Gon's face remained impassive, "Fine. Let's get on the way then."

River nodded and moved off to the control room. In minutes the sleek ship was entering the stratosphere and accelerating away from K'ejuk.

**** 

**Yeah, I'm feeling slightly sick due to what I've inflicted on Obi-Wan. I'm not going to beg for any more reviews. Review if you like!**


	20. But to whom do they belong?

**Culf:** Oedipus? Whos that?

**bored2death:** Well, everytime i proof-read it i felt sick. I felt sick after writing it. I've read lots of Obi-torture, you learn from the best. That actually is the worst, descriptive, sadistic part. It gets better.....sort of...

**Anna:** You didn't see the whole Billy running into the group thing? I thought it stuck up heaps. I was concerned about bringing them together like that. Yeah, i'm afraid that scene really suits Caleb, thats why i put it in. He wouldn't have nicely surgically cut but he had to painfully rip. Nasty. Hope this reaches you early!

**Yep, Caleb is a sadistic bastard. I hate him. I can't believe that monster that I have un-leashed on poor Obi.**

Also, beware of the language in this one. And beware of running with scissors and other pointy objects! It's all fun and games till someone loses an eeeeyyiii!.....an eeeeyyyeee!!

Yeah, just ignore that.

I think i lost half of my readers on that last chapter.....sorry.

**** 

_Like a door that keeps revolving_

In a half forgotten dream

Or the ripples from a pebble

Someone tosses in a stream

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

Obi-Wan awoke to nothing. He couldn't see a thing. Gently he touched his face, making sure that his eyelids were open and he wasn't just imagining that he'd woken up.

He tried to get to feet and promptly collapsed, his ankles holding no weight. Then the memories hit home and Obi-Wan mutely curled up on the ground. He openly cried, cried like he hadn't before. Silver tear tracks ran down his cheeks and stained the ground beneath him.

Time ran together and the boy had no idea how long he'd been there. Slowly he realised that he was in some dark cell and the only reason he couldn't see was because there was no light. The only thing that the young teenager could hear was the sound of his own ragged breathing. He also found that he was naked, something that he regretted bitterly when the cell got freezing cold.

He learnt to live off the trickles of water off the walls. He learnt to eat the moss and lichen scraped out from between the stones. And very slowly he re-learnt how to walk.

That was the hardest thing of all. At first Obi-Wan was hopeful that his tendons would heal but as time went on, it became apparent that it was not to be. They were too badly damaged and only receiving a new pair of tendons would fix that problem. He painfully learnt how to walk. It wasn't fast, it wasn't efficient and it was slow. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't get his ankles to work properly, and they ended up dragging along the ground most of the time. Every step brought a new world of pain to the boy and he knew that he was never going to be able to run on his legs, ever again.

Time passed. Occasionally food appeared. Sometimes the guards checked up on him. 

Then finally, Caleb arrived. Smiling.

(Not a good thing when the shark smiles. Tends to mean that it's going to eat something.) Obi-Wan groggily thought as his eyes painfully adjusted to the harsh light.

"Attempted escape is a serious transgression my slave. I'm afraid that you're the only slave in this household who has committed such a crime and hasn't been terminated. You should be proud of that fact, you have made it into the record book."

Obi-Wan didn't say anything. Caleb looked down at the boy and his smile grew even wider. (Sometimes, the best things in life are free). The boy was starvation thin, his ribs showing clearly through his pale skin. Caleb walked around to the back of the slave, swiftly bent down and grabbed the boy's legs.

Obi-Wan yelped and tried to draw in on himself but the older man kept a firm hold.

"Yes, I see that your ankles have healed just the way that I wanted them to. You can walk, but not walk far enough, am I right?"

Obi-Wan dully remained mute and continued to struggle to reclaim his lower legs.

Caleb laughed, "I'll take that as a 'yes'." The laugh died on his lips and he continued seriously, "Because of the seriousness of the crime, you will be taken out into the Sands and kept there until I find you fit to take back as my slave, understand?" When the boy didn't say anything Caleb viciously tugged on the boy's leg, eliciting a cry of pain as the still-healing muscles protested.

Obi-Wan licked his lips, "Y-yes."

"Good."

**** 

Qui-Gon stepped down off the ramp and looked around the planet that they had landed on. Jabez. 

It was a strange planet. There were patches of forest and sand dotted around. Some planets seemed to be either completely water, completely forest or completely sand. This planet was a mixture of everything. 

The main thing that worried Qui-Gon was the fact that it also seemed un-inhabited. He could find no trace of any life-forms. 

(But Caleb is here. The master was telling the truth.) Qui-Gon tried to convince himself as he watched Billy and River step down beside him.

"So, where is Caleb?" Billy innocently asked.

"I don't know. We shall have to locate him." Qui-Gon answered in a monotone.

Billy glanced at the man. (Even though he looks so cold, he is capable of much emotion.) She smiled softly (He tries to hide it, but for a Jedi – he does a pretty pathetic job).

"What? Look for the big, flashing, neon sign that says, '**Caleb the psychopath lives here!**'" River joked.

"Pretty much." Qui-Gon said dryly and turned away.

"Huh?" River's mouth dropped open and Billy's gaze intensified.

"We don't have much time. The Force is telling me to hurry. Let's get searching."

**** 

Obi-Wan lay on the ground, too weak to do anything. His head throbbed. He had been there for a whole two days. A whole two days in the burning hot sun, with nothing for protection. His naked body was dry, cracked and sore. Two days completely bare in the sun hadn't done much except give him terrible sunburn. He looked down at the chain binding his ankle to the stake in the ground. Earlier he might've tried to wriggle the stake out of the ground but now…….

What was the whole point? (It's not like I can go anywhere anyway.) Obi-Wan thought while looking at his scarred ankles. (It's not like I'm going to be able to walk properly. I'm never going to escape, never.) Obi-Wan's head drooped as the small thread of hope dwindled ever further away. (How can I hope to escape if I can't even walk?) Obi-Wan looked at the trees, far away. Too far away for him. With his ankles it would take him, at least, a week to reach the fringes of the forest. For a normal human being it would take them 2 days. 

(Why didn't he just chop my legs off?) Obi-Wan let a tear of self-pity slide down his face. "Because he wanted to make sure that I would know how useless I am." Obi-Wan dragged himself into a sitting position. Turning to look back over the burning sand he screamed, "I **_hate_** you Caleb!! You have taken away what is most precious to me!! You have taken my _freedom_. I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU!!" Obi-Wan pounded the sand with his hands and sobbed.

"That's not a very nice thing to say, is it?" Suddenly, Caleb was standing right in front of him. 

"Get fucked." Obi-Wan muttered vehemently, while looking down at the sand. He was rewarded with a punch that left him dazed and the next thing he realised he was choking.

"Take that back, my dear boy." Caleb forcefully pushed the boy's head further into the sand, slowly suffocating the boy. He voice was silky and smooth and Obi-Wan could easily hear the pleasure in it.

(NO!) Obi-Wan couldn't say it, gritty sand was filling up his mouth and flowing down his oesophagus. His lungs spasmed as they desperately tried to reject the foreign substance.

Caleb pushed the boy's head further into the sand, "You will not take it back? You no longer value your life? Well, then. What about the life of another? Would you condemn another innocent slave to death for the sake of your pride? Or will you take that comment back?"

Obi-Wan stilled, his brain was becoming sluggish but the main thoughts were still getting through (He can't kill another slave just because of me! What am I thinking? He will. He likes watching me squirm. _Why me?_. Why does everything happen to _me_?) Obi-Wan thought over the decision before him, consented and minutely nodded his head.

Caleb smiled, "Good boy. You are learning." He released the boy and watched as Obi-Wan weakly sat up, retching and coughing. He brought forward a bottle and said, "Here. Have a drink of water. It will soothe your irritated throat."

Obi-Wan froze and slowly looked at the man beside him, "Water?" (Why would he give me water now? Admittedly, I haven't any for 2 days……..)

Caleb half closed his eyes as he read the doubts and fears of the boy's mind, "You really need to control your face boy. Although it is beautiful, it betrays what you think all too easily."

Obi-Wan sidled backwards.

"Yes, water. After your last little act of rebellion we decided that some time in the Sands would be good for you. It's been 2 days – I do not want you to die……..yet." Caleb offered the bottle.

Obi-Wan's spirit still revolted against Caleb, "Why don't you just let me die?!? I am a useless slave. Why do you bother keeping me?" 

Caleb's lips twitched, "I was wondering when you were going to ask that. I keep you because I want to _break_ you." He sighed the word, deep with pleasure. 

The fettered boy couldn't think of anything to say.

Caleb offered the bottle once again, "Do you want the water?"

Obi-Wan nodded slowly, his head still reeling from dehydration and the effects of the quick suffocation.

"Then lick my shoes." Caleb stood up over the boy and dangled the bottle tantalising above the boy.

"WHAT??" Obi-Wan couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"You heard what I said slave. If you want the water, lick my shoes. I want them clean." Caleb gestured to his muddy shoes. 

Obi-Wan took one look at the shoes in front of him and revolted, "NO! I _will not_ lick your friggin shoes! You lick them yourself, you arsehole!"

Caleb's face tightened and he let the bottle tip towards to the ground, letting the precious liquid fall to the dusty ground, "So be it, my dear slave. You will receive no water." He emptied the bottle and walked away.

Obi-Wan regarded the retreating back and realised that he had made a mistake. He badly needed that water. He needed to learn to swallow his pride or else he would not survive. (But do you really want to survive?) A voice whispered nastily and Obi-Wan pushed it back and concentrated on making it through the day.

The day passed and night followed it. The rapid change in temperature found the boy trying to bury himself in the once burning hot sands. With no clothes for protection Obi-Wan felt the cold badly. The sand was the only thing that offered warmth and Obi-Wan tried to make the best of it. Just as soon as the freezing night had passed, the blazing hot day returned and Obi-Wan found himself panting once more on top of the sand.

Obi-Wan was just giving himself up to die in the Sands when a guard appeared holding a bucket. Water isn't meant to have a smell, but a cool, clear smell wafted from the bucket making Obi-Wan look up with dry, crusted eyes.

"Water." The guard curtly dumped the bucket on the ground in front of the boy and Obi-Wan slowly heaved himself up to look into the bucket.

Sure enough, there was water in there. It rippled, and sunlight danced across its surface. It was the most beautiful thing that the boy had ever seen. 

"F-for me?" Obi-Wan croaked, although he knew that the question sounded dumb he had to be certain.

"Yes, slave." The guard watched with contempt as Obi-Wan crawled forward and took a little sip. It was the real thing. Obi-Wan wanted nothing then to pick the bucket up and swallow the whole lot but he knew that if he did that he would be ill for certain. 

The guard watched as the boy took another slow sip then deliberately kicked the bucket over.

(Huh?) Obi-Wan's brain couldn't focus but he watched mutely as the water seeped into the sand. "N-no!………W-w-why?" he managed to finally force out through his parched lips.

"Mr Caleb said it would teach you a lesson. To be so close, yet so far. He also said that since you managed to get a little bit of the water, the rest of the day will be spent thinking about what you have lost, and ultimately the decision that made you lose it." The guard's eyes had become glazed as he spoke, as if he was remembering and reciting what he said.

Obi-Wan didn't react to the guard but tried desperately to suck any moisture out of the sand. All he ended up with was a mouthful of gritty sand for his efforts. The next time he looked up, the guard was gone.

Obi-Wan watched the horizon from his prone position on the sand; it was blurring and moving in and out of focus – something that did not bode well for his body. He didn't know how much time had passed, while he had lain in the limbo but the sun was low in the sky when the guard returned with the bucket. The guard placed the bucket right beside the boy's head and said:

"Drink up quickly or else I will take it away from you once again." He tipped it slowly and Obi-Wan watched as a drop fell and evaporated on the hot sand.

(Screw being cautious, I need this) Obi-Wan forced himself up, grabbed the bucket and with one gulp swallowed half of it's contents. A split second later, he realised his mistake and tried to spit the water back out.

It was saltwater.

The guard gave a hearty laugh as the boy choked and gasped. "Bet you didn't see that one coming did you, _slave_?"

"W-w-water…."Obi-Wan tried to focus on the guard but was pushed back down into the sand.

"Maybe later!" The guard picked up the bucket and emptied the rest of it on the boy.

Obi-Wan retched as the saltwater burned all the way down his throat. (No…..I need water…..need……). He didn't think that it could've gotten any worse but he was wrong. The salt made him even more desperate. The night was the most torturous that he had ever spent. Physical beatings he could handle, that was only pain but this……this was mental torture. Obi-Wan realised that he would do _anything_ for just a cup of water.

The saltwater made him sick and Obi-Wan couldn't stop viciously vomiting. Badly dehydrated and delirious Obi-Wan spent another sleepless night.

He started crawling out of the sand the next morning but gave up halfway. (What's the use of it? If I don't get water today, I will die.) He closed his eyes and felt his body burning as the sun intensified as the day wore on.

Caleb approached the boy and nodded his approval. The boy lay half covered under the sand, no doubt from burying himself the night before. The boy's skin was a dark brown and he noticed that the boy had flung his arm out and had his head resting on it. The boy's ginger hair had bleached to a very light brown, almost blonde. He reached the boy and prodded him with his boot. Nothing happened. Caleb probed the boy once again and watched with satisfaction as the boy stirred and looked up with muddled eyes.

"Water." Caleb stated and held out a bucket. Obi-Wan looked at him and slowly tried to crawl towards him. "Not so fast young one. Remember that answer you gave me to that decision? It was not appropriate. Now, the request still stands and you must accept it to receive the water." He smiled evilly and placed his foot beneath the boy's head.

Obi-Wan looked at the shoe, then at the water. (No more pride. No more self-respect. Just do it. You need the water.) He made his decision and slowly licked the man's shoe. It was more for show then anything, as any saliva had long ago disappeared from the boy's mouth.

"Good boy." Caleb purred and knelt down. He patted the boy like a dog and Obi-Wan sagged, too exhausted to do anything – he was ready to die. Caleb gently pulled the boy over to him and cradled his head in his lap. If Obi-Wan had any strength he would've pushed the man away from him but now………

(Go……..away……)Obi-Wan groggily thought as his eyes closed once more. His thoughts were overridden as Caleb spoke; "Now, we wouldn't want you to go dying on me." He softly placed the bucket on Obi-Wan's lips and let the water dribble slowly but consistently into the boy's parched mouth. At first, the boy choked as his throat tried to swallow but gradually Obi-Wan's mouth began working once more to the point where he was beginning to suck in the water like a baby sucking on a mother's breast.

Suddenly, the boy turned his head away from the bucket and violently thrust his head out of Caleb's embrace. The man's face tightened at this show of rebellion but relaxed as Obi-Wan started violently retching, throwing back up some water that he had taken.

"Easy boy. Easy. You shouldn't drink so fast. You know that your stomach won't be able to handle it." Caleb told the boy off and Obi-Wan tiredly looked up at him. Caleb started as the boy closed his eyes and passed out in his arms.

"What the……?" Caleb mentally counted the hours the boy had been without water. He had sent guard with a bucket full of the stuff only last night. The boy shouldn't be on the brink like he was. Caleb's eyes darkened as he thought what he would do if the boy died. He undid the chain, and easily picked up the boy in his arms, and walked back to the compound. As he trudged on with his small burden, he passed the barracks, where the guards were lounging around and laughing.

He stopped in front of them and watched with an expressionless face as they straightened up and bowed. "Who was the one that gave the slave his ration of water last night?" There were nervous glances and a single guard stepped forward.

The guard swallowed, "I did sir.P> 

"Now, tell me truthfully. Do not lie and no harm will befall you – did you give the boy his water ration?"

"I did sir......but.......er......." The guard hesitated and Caleb raised his eyebrows.

"Not admitting everything would be classed as a lie, guard. But……….?" He left the question hanging.

"I-I salted it sir." The guard lowered his eyes and stared at the floor, fear consuming him.

Caleb's hand tightened, "You salted the boy's water _without_ my permission?"

"Yes sir."

As quick as lightening, Caleb pulled a blaster from his pocket and shot the offending guard. "You almost cost me my most precious piece of merchandise." He snarled at the now dead guard. He looked around at the guards around him, "Let that be a lesson to you all – do not disobey me."


	21. Never ending or beginning

**Long foreword once again. Just skip what's not irrelevant for you.**

**Amy:** Yes, you can kill him. Just after i finish with him.

**Culf:** Ewww. That's gross. Incest. Mother and son. I actually got the achilles idea from a story i read about a boy and a horse. He had a wild horse and someone wanted it. They were going to break it and be ultra cruel to it so the boy decided to cut the horses tendons so that the men wouldn't want it. The moral of the story was, "Cruel to be kind." The horse remained wild and free but crippled. Good or bad? Who can say?

**Sethoz:** Theres a club now???? Are you serious? Can i join? Stargates cool. I'm not into as much as i was, but i got my friend totally addicted to it. I used to have a crush on Daniel when he had long hair *blushes*. My, that was a long time ago!

**Anna:** That was short? Sorry! I thought that was pretty long....but they all start to look the same to me. Trust me, your review was great. I'm writing this in a bikini top and short skirt cause it's so HOT. I think my computer might have a meltdown. I've never seen snow! Yesterday, it was around 40 C, (103F) and i couldn't go down the beach. You have my sympathy! No matter what the excuse.

**lightedeagle:** That's ok, i just thought i'd lost several people (which i still think i have...)

**bored2death:** I think i should hire a bodyguard.....

**Anon:** *blinks* I hadn't actually thought of that. But *roz hurriedly thinks up an excuse* Lets say.....Obi-Wan has dug through the sand for 2 days. He has found no water. His body is too weak to allow him to keep digging. The dew on the sand is virtually nil and everytime he does try to drink it, he ends up with sand in his mouth. He does lick the dew off his body but it's not enough for anything. *roz grins weakly*. I know that was a crappy excuse, but it's the best i could do in 5 secs. Sorry!

** Okay, i'm SO SORRY for not updating last night. I'm begging forgiveness from Culf and Anna (because i know that you would've waited all night for it). I'm _so sorry_. I'll explain the excuse. There are huge fires going on in Australia at the moment. (400 houses gone, 4 people dead, 100 people injured) and although i don't live where the fires are, half my family does. So we spent all last night, ringing around, making sure they're ok. They're fine....for the moment. My aunt, who owns a farm, is very _very_ close to the bushfire. So please forgive me, _please_?**

To make up for it, i'll upload 2 chapters together. That ok?

**** 

_Keys that jingle in your pocket_

Words that jangle in your head

Why did summer go so quickly?

Was it something that I said?

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

Qui-Gon entered the mansion through the huge oak doors and looked impressively around him. It had taken them almost 3 weeks to find Caleb's hiding place. It was well concealed, virtually underground and on the other side of the planet that they had originally landed on. He had special machines to cloak him, making him invisible to probes seeking out life-forms.

As Qui-Gon confidentially strode forward he raised his head high in the air and draped on a posture of arrogance.

River and Billy trailed behind him; heads bent and shoulders slumped. They were his slaves.

After finding out where Caleb lived and what he did, it hadn't taken Qui-Gon long to think out a plan. It went roughly like this. Pretend to be a guns-master buying merchandise to re-sell. River and Billy are his personal slaves. They are 'tame.' Do some business with Caleb. Qui-Gon had unlimited use of the Jedi Council's credit account. Breach the subject of slaves. See where it goes from there.

Qui-Gon's thoughts whirled as he frantically tried to feel his apprentice – with no luck.

Suddenly, an average height non-descript man blocked his path. Everything about the man was plain. He wouldn't stand out anywhere. He was the type of man that would win prizes for being the most plain. 

(And the 'Most Boring' First prize goes to……….Caleb!!) Qui-Gon blinked as the man extended his hand and spoke.

"Welcome friend. My name is Caleb; it is I that you will be doing business with. Please call me Caleb. I understand your concerns about privacy and secrecy therefore I will only call you friend. I'm afraid that I've got some business to attend to but I won't be long. Please follow this droid and it'll show you to your chambers. Please make yourselves comfortable and I will be with you shortly." Caleb gave a small, quick bow and left quickly, muttering something into his comm.-link. 

"Okay then. He didn't hang around long." River murmured as they followed the droid. The room was plain but beautifully furnished. Qui-Gon didn't see any of this but sunk down into a huge chair and closed his eyes.

"So what do we do now?" Billy asked while touring the room.

"We wait."

**** 

Obi-Wan trudged onward, following in Caleb's wake. It had been almost three weeks since his experience in the Sands and any remaining pride and self-respect had been ripped away. Obi-Wan had lost all hope. Every step he took seemed to take infinity and took all his concentration. One foot in front of another. Obi-Wan didn't realise how hard a simple task just like walking could become when one was crippled.

Caleb turned back to wait for his slave. His smile widened as he watched the young boy struggle onwards. His shoulders were hunched over and each step he took seemed physically draining on the young teen. Everything about the boy radiated despair. 

The event in the Sands was a turning point in the 'training' of the young slave. After that first act, the boy had bowed down to doing other acts. Admittedly there had been several hiccups in the proceedings, which had meant that Caleb had to lose several other slaves. Sure, that was a loss but the rewards were great. The boy was finally breaking; he was bending to Caleb's will. Compared to the breaking of a Jedi, the loss of a few slaves was small. Infinitely small.

Obi-Wan was re-living several of the worst memories of his short life.

He had been the cause of death for 4 slaves. Caleb had shot them in front of him, just because he had disobeyed an order. He remembered the smell of the blood and the smell of scorched flesh heavy in the air. He remembered the fear in the slave's eyes and the way the light let them when they died. After the execution, Caleb made the boy carry the corpse back to it's dormitory so that its friends could see what had happened. That was the worst part. The other slaves had come to fear and hate the boy. Everywhere he went, he brought death. They made sure that they studiously avoided him. To be truthful, Obi-Wan tried to avoid them as much as possible as well, just so Caleb didn't single anyone out just for being his 'friend.' There was only one person that he could call friend. Her name was Kali. She worked in the kitchens. She was nice. Obi-Wan would make sure that nothing would happen to her.

(I will never be the cause of another slaves death) Obi-Wan silently vowed, (If I must do what Caleb says to accomplish it, then so be it). As he made the promise, he caught Caleb looking at him and he bowed his head. 

Caleb watched with satisfaction as the boy lowered his head, "Come here." He commanded. Obi-Wan came. 

"Kneel." Caleb pointed to the ground in front of his feet. The boy knelt, keeping his eyes lowered. "Good, very good. You are learning fast, my young slave." He bent down and forced Obi-Wan to look up into his eyes.

"So we have come to an agreement?"

Obi-Wan's shoulders slumped ever further and he whispered while not meeting eye contact, "Yes."

Caleb coughed, "Yes, what?"

Obi-Wan bowed his head, "Yes _master_."

"Good. Now, go to our room and wait there for me. I have to see a client and then I'll be with you."

"Yes master." Obi-Wan gave a small bow from his kneeling position and Caleb nodded; signalling he could go. Obi-Wan left.

"Yes, very good." Caleb rubbed his hands with approval as he watched Obi-Wan limp off slowly. "Another couple of days, and I'll have him."

**** 

Qui-Gon paced around the small room nervously. River and Billy looked at him from various positions around the room. 

"Do you think you could stop that Qui-Gon? It's quite annoying." River quipped trying to lighten the tension in the room.

Qui-Gon gave a grunt, then stopped, "You 're right River. Sorry. It's just……..this place. Can't you feel it? No, I suppose not." Qui-Gon answered his own question. "The fear is hangs heavy in the air. I can feel it in the F---" he was luckily stopped from finishing his sentence as the door slid open revealing Caleb.

"Ah. I see you've made yourself comfortable? I'm sorry that I took so long, but I had some business that I had to finish before seeing you. I hope you don't mind?" Caleb entered, holding out his hands.

"No, not at all. Not at all. I understand just as well, how busy a business like this can become." Qui-Gon swallowed, thankful that he had stopped when he had. He took the hand in front of him and shook it with a confidence that he felt he didn't possess. 

"Well, I'm glad you understand. And these are…….?" Caleb looked inquiringly at River and Billy who had taken up a position kneeling on each side of the standing Qui-Gon.

Qui-Gon looked down at them, and pasted a contemptuous expression on his face, "My slaves of course. I prefer to have two, that way I keep them in check by using the other as leverage."

"Ah," Caleb made an understanding noise, "Yes, I have found that works quite well; in fact I am personally training a slave by using those methods of persuasion. But that is not the reason why you are here is it?" Caleb made the move to start the actual business.

"Well, not really. But maybe after this business transaction, we could check out this new slave of yours. Slave-breaking is a little hobby of mine, and it interests me to see other people's methods." Qui-Gon tested the water.

"I don't see why not. To tell the truth, I'm awfully proud of this latest achievement. It's not everyone that manages to break a Jedi." Caleb leant forward and whispered this to Qui-Gon, his voice inviting praise.

Qui-Gon's heart leapt and he had to remember to keep breathing. "Wow. That is one of my ultimate dreams. You _must_ show me this later. Later, you must tell me how you acquired such a specimen; I have looked everywhere for such a slave – to no avail. But now, let us do business. Business first, pleasure later. That is what I have always been taught."

Caleb nodded and leant back, "Sure. Why don't you sit down and we can begin?" Caleb gestured to a chair and Qui-Gon accepted the invitation. 

The next 2 hours were the most boring that River and Billy had ever spent in their lives. River had had experiences with long waits on his knees but it was a first experience for Billy. While the conversation floated over their heads about ammunition, quantities, co-ordinates, political situations, and pricing the two 'slave's' knees got extremely sore. They did not speak but made eye contact with each other several times, mainly indicating how bored they were. 

"It's getting pretty late and we haven't finished and confirmed everything. My friend, you are a hard bargainee and very stubborn. But I like to see that." Caleb's voice floated down and Qui-Gon stood. River and Billy straightened up and put on their best 'broken-slave' posture.

"Yes, it is getting late but I do not wish to continue this tomorrow. I wish to close the deal tonight." Qui-Gon stated, a hard look in his eyes.

Caleb sighed, "Of course, I understand. Well, then. Let us go to my private office and there we can confirm and close the deal. How about that?"

Qui-Gon nodded his approval, "Sure, that sounds great." He looked down at Billy and River and noticed how tired they were, "Do you mind if I send my slaves back to my quarters? I do not wish them to hear out whole private conversation and I need them well-rested for tomorrow."

"No, I don't mind at all." Caleb got up from his chair and palmed open the door, "Let us go, friend." 

River and Billy slowly stood up, testing how flexible their legs were. Keeping their faces down and shoulders hunched they followed their 'master' out. Qui-Gon turned to them outside the door and sternly said, "Go to bed. There is no food for you today. If you are good, I might consider feeding you tomorrow." River and Billy gave a quick bow and left when Qui-Gon consented for them to go. 

**** 

Qui-Gon could not believe what he was seeing. Kneeling right in front of him was his apprentice. His Padawan. After all this time, he had finally found him. 

And Obi-Wan hadn't even recognised his presence. 

**** 

"Cryptic little gnome!" Mace grumbled as he impatiently waited for the droid to finish refueling his ship. "Why can't he just speak normally like everybody else? Of course not. He just calls me in and tells me to fly through several galaxies and go to some strange planet that nobody has ever heard of."

One of the healers came out and came to stand alongside the dark skinned human, "Um, Master Mace. We were wondering, what exactly are we doing here? I mean, we know that we're going to a planet called...." He quickly consulted a data-pad, ".......Jabez, but _why_ are we going there?"

Mace cleared his throat and tried to look mysterious and all-knowing, "Because it is the will of the Force. It has commanded us to journey to that planet. All will be revealed presently as the Force sees just. You must trus--" the master was cut off as the healer grinned uncertainly at him.

"Ohh! It's like that huh? You have no idea huh?" The healer turned to his companions who had snuck up behind him. "Master Mace here has no idea why we're being told to go to this planet."

Mace clenched his teeth together, "No, to be truthful I do not know why we have to go to this planet. But Master Yoda told me to go, therefore I will go. Do you understand?"

The healers faces cleared at the venerables master's name, "Yes, we understand. Yoda sees things that we cannot. We respect him and his decision. I am sorry to have disturbed you Master Mace." The healer bowed and made to return to the ship but was stopped by the master's hand on his cloak.

"Yes Master Mace?"

"How long has it been since Padawan Kenobi has been missing?" Mace was looking thoughtfully at the stars.

"Uhm...." The healer played for time while mentally counting the months, "It has been well over 10 months. I thought that they had declared him dead."

"No...." Mace turned to the healer, "He hasn't been declared dead. Master Jinn is still searching for him. I wonder if this has anything to do with him? Yoda always had a soft spot for that boy."

"Yes", the healer laughed, "He has been in the healer's ward way too many times for my liking!"

"Well, I hope that he will be fine when we find him." Mace's face grew sad. (More likely that we won't find him, or we'll just find his body.) Mace continued, his voice thick with remorse:

"He is greatly missed back home."


	22. On an ever spinning wheel

**Is the tension getting to you?**

**** 

_Lovers walking along the shore_

Leave their footprints in the sand

Was the sound of distant drumming

Just the fingers of your hand?

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

The boy knelt beside Caleb, keeping his face downcast. His hands lay limply by his side and trembled slightly as Caleb spoke. Qui-Gon found he had to concentrate hard on what Caleb was saying otherwise his mind would revert back to Obi-Wan's predicament.

"As you see, this the slave that I was talking about earlier. He is coming along wonderfully. Unfortunately, when I first received him he was rebellious and I had to punish him several times. As you can no doubt see."

Qui-Gon could see. Old and new scars littered the boy's back – obviously whip marks. Although he had gotten used to seeing them on River's back, to see them on his thirteen-year-old Padawan's back gave him an extreme shock. Parts of his back were still healing, covered in scabs and dried black blood. River had refused to let Qui-Gon heal his scars. Saying that it was good to remember his past, so he could appreicate his future. Qui-Gon was going to damn well heal his Padawan's scars. _All_ of them.

Qui-Gon wrenched his attention back on the man in front of him, "When he transgressed, I'd give him a beating and see if that'd teach him. But this boy is stubborn. Physical punishment to his body didn't do anything. Not long after I acquired him I showed him the true consequences of his rebellious nature and executed a slave in front of him. It slowed him down for a while, but then he attempted escape." Caleb laughed at the gleeful memory.

"He didn't get far. The guards caught him and brought him back to the compound. I then made sure that he would never attempt escape again." Caleb rubbed his hands, re-living the memory of severing the boy's tendons. 

"How did you manage to do that?" Qui-Gon was dreading the answer. (I don't want to know. I _do not_ want to know. How can a person be so damn _cruel_? He makes me sick, I feel like I'm going to be sick. Obi-Wan look at me! Look at me! _Recognise_ me!! Please!! Give me a sign! I've found you and everything is going to be okay. Everything is going to be fine. I'm going to take you away from here and you'll remember everything. I promise!! What has this animal turned you into? _What has he **done to you?!?**_)

"Oh, it was quite simple actually. I just cut his Achilles tendons. That made sure that he'd never be able to run." Caleb relaxed back into his, expecting praise.

(You **_bastard._** You absolute _bastard_.) Qui-Gon felt physically sickened, the man had permanently crippled his Padawan. The man didn't have any right to _touch_ his Padawan in _any_ way. What Qui-Gon actually said was: "Oh. What a fantastic idea but then the slave would be useless to you."

Caleb gave a toothy smile, "Well, yes. But it depends in what way you class 'useless'. It was one of the points that broke him. That and the time he spent in the Sands."

"The Sands? What did you do there?" Qui-Gon wanted to strangle the man in front of him.

"After his tendons healed, or rather, didn't heal, we took him out to the Sands for further punishment. Attempted escape is not tolerated. He is the only slave that has been spared his life. It took his ankles around three weeks to heal. During that time he was kept in cold, dark cell. We made sure that there was no light and the only water he had was the condensation on the walls. Occasionally, to keep him alive we'd throw him in some food. He was kept naked; to strip him of any self-esteem and during that time he re-learnt how to walk. After his ankles healed, we took him out into the Sands and kept him there for four days."

"What _are_ the Sands?" Qui-Gon had to physically stop himself from leaping over the desk and smashing the smug smile off the man's face.

"The Sands is our desert. It's just like the desert. Sand, sun, hot, heat and no water. The physicians and I decided that since physical pain didn't seem to bend him – we'd try mental pain. After losing something so precious as the _chance_ of freedom, thrusting him into these situations would either leave him dead or broken. It broke him. I actually nearly lost him, as the guards stupidly stuffed around with his water but that's all in that past. I now have a Jedi slave that does everything that I command of him." Caleb finished off his story by placing his hands behind his head and giving Qui-Gon a smug smile.

Qui-Gon's head was reeling as he looked back down at the boy kneeling in front of him. (I'm _so_ sorry Obi-Wan. I'm so sorry. If I had've known I would've come earlier. I'd do anything to be in your position. It's not fair, this is _not_ fair. You shouldn't be there. You should be able to recognise me, you should, you should……I should not have left you. You are but a child. This is my fault, this is _all my fault_.) Qui-Gon put his head in his hands, momentarily forgetting where he was. 

"I'm sorry……..? Are you okay?" Caleb leaned forward, concern written on his face. It would not do to lose such a _wealthy_ client.

With an effort Qui-Gon pulled himself together, "Yes, I am fine. I've just got a bit of a headache and seeing your accomplishment, just astonished me, to say the least. I have never even heard of a tame Jedi. Aren't you afraid of this Jedi's powers? I see that you haven't even placed a force suppressor on him."

"Well, that is the best part." Caleb leaned forward and whispered confidentially into the older Jedi's ear. "The slave has amnesia and doesn't remember anything of his past life! But I understand. Wait here and I will call up a protocol droid that will assist you to your room." Caleb spoke briefly to a commlink on his desk and within seconds the door slid open revealing a shiny robot.

"Sir?" The droid questioned in its metallic voice.

"Assist this man to his quarters. Make sure that he and his slaves are comfortable." Caleb instructed. He turned to the older man beside him. He smiled as he noticed that the man seemed entranced in his relatively new 'toy.' He cleared his throat and spoke when the older Jedi didn't looked up. "This droid will take you to your room. Please do not hesitate to call for anything. By the way, there are also painkillers in the cupboard in the refresher." He laughed at the confused expression on his client's face. "For your headache. Please, relax yourself. It will take around a week for me to compile your order. You are allowed to go wherever you want and do anything you want." With a curt nod he dismissed the man in front of him and watched as the man slowly left the room, his eyes still on the young boy kneeling beside him. 

The door slide shut and Caleb ruffled the boy's hair, "Well, I think that went pretty well my young slave. He seemed entranced by you did he not?"

Obi-Wan looked up, a question in his eyes.

Caleb nodded, "Speak."

"Yes, master." The boy's voice was barely a whisper. "That seemed to go well."

"I am greatly impressed by your obedience slave. You are coming along nicely." Caleb sighed in pleasure. 

If anything, the boy seemed to sink lower into his depression. "Yes master. I am learning quickly." (And painfully) Obi-Wan added mentally. Only a short couple of months ago, Obi-Wan would never have dreamt acting like this but what was the use anymore? Nothing beckoned to the boy in the future. For Obi-Wan there was no future. He wasn't going anywhere. Not with feet that didn't function. Not when the slightest disobedience ended in the taking of some poor innocent slave's life. Obi-Wan had truly given up hope.

"Good. I have one order for you. The man will probably want to talk to you about your….er……ordeals. He was extremely interested in your treatment. It is not often that one meets a professional in the same sort of hobby that one is interested in. You are to not speak with him. At all. You are not to speak to any of his entourage. Do you understand?"

"Yes master." Obi-Wan hesitated then plunged on, "What if they speak to me?"

Caleb steepled his fingers, "You are to say nothing. You are not even allowed to touch them. You are to take on a vow of silence concerning that man and his slaves. You will not talk to his slaves either. _Do you understand?_" The man's voice had turned as hard as steel and the young Jedi knew from experience that he was being deadly serious.

"Yes master." Obi-Wan sighed inwardly and bent his head to stare at the ground.

"Excellent. You may now go to bed." Caleb dismissed him as he rose from his chair and proceeded to his private room. 'Bed' was not the word for it. Obi-Wan had to sleep on the ground at the entrance of his master's room.

Like a dog.

Obi-Wan stood weakly and followed in his master's wake. "Yes master." Softly spoken and dull eyed the boy lay down in his rightful spot and curled up into foetal position. 

As the artificial lights were turned out and night lengthened, Obi-Wan cried himself to sleep. 

**** 

"It's him!!! It's him!" Qui-Gon could not keep his voice down as he told River and Billy. "The man has got him in his chamber like some kind of _animal_. I can't believe that he could be so cruel, the boy is only a child. They can't do that, it's not allowed!"

"But of course it happens. You know that Qui-Gon. You found that out when you took me in." River interrupted and tried to calm down the man. "Sit. Centre yourself and tell us what happened in there."

"You have been listening too much to what I say." Qui-Gon's eyes were glazed and focused on something not visible in their current reality. "Caleb is treating him like a dog."

"Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon you must listen to me!" River was getting impatient. "What is of his condition?" It was an evil question but it had to be answered.

Qui-Gon's eyes went from glazed to hard, "He is……..not good."

"In what way? Physically or mentally?" River pressed on, knowing how much the answers meant.

Qui-Gon sighed, "Both." He knew that he had to answer but every word seemed to twist a knife into the older Jedi's heart. "He has been beaten several times, but I can heal his physical wounds. It is his mental and spiritual state that worries me more. The boy has been……..broken."

Billy closed her eyes in horror, "No. Not O-Obi-Wan. He was always so…..hopeful. So eager to leave, to escape. Why? What would make him give up?"

"He is crippled." The sentence was rough.

"What??" River was astonished, he had never heard of that taking place in the slaver's world. Everything there depended on profit. A crippled slave was a useless slave and a useless slave was a dead slave. "You didn't mention that before Qui-Gon."

"It doesn't matter. When I take him back to the Temple, the healers will re-grow the muscles and tendons."

"But you don't see Qui-Gon. It does matter. That would probably be the main reason why the boy is the way he mentally is."

"What? I don't understand." Qui-Gon looked from River to Billy's faces in confusion.

"When I was with Obi-Wan in the factory the only thing that kept him going was the thought of escaping one day." Billy tried to help.

"Surely just because he is crippled, that would not break him?"

"To lose the function of anything is a big loss. Put yourself in his position. He now has no chance of escape - that has been denied to him. There is no way that he is going to get out of here. With the abuse and cruel treatment heaped upon him by Caleb, what would be the point of going on? He has no memory. He does not think that anyone waits for him beyond the barbed wire and electro-shields. No one cares for him within this compound. The slave 456, believes that he is going to spend the rest of his life in this place, with absolutely no chance of escape and having to obey Caleb or pay the price of physical beatings."

Qui-Gon bowed his head then snapped it back up to look at River squarely, "Then he shall know. I will take him out of this place if I have to _buy_ him." He looked at Billy and she nodded slowly.

"Tomorrow, we will talk to him."

**** 

Obi-Wan scurried from his master's room to the door in an effort to quickly get to the kitchen. It was breakfast time. 

As he closed his master's door and stepped out into the hall he breathed deeply and ran as fast as his crippled legs allowed him down the stairs in the direction of the kitchen. He was late and Caleb did not like it when he was late.

Just like every other room, his master's room did have a self-contained kitchen but Caleb preferred his food piping hot and delicious from the kitchen downstairs. He did not like it when it was cold. 

(There is a lot that my master does not like…)Obi-Wan blasphemously started a thought then stopped it, almost afraid that Caleb would be able to read his thoughts and punish him for them.

As he limped awkwardly around a corner he ran smack-bang straight into one of Caleb's friends. The slave dropped quickly to his knees and bowed his head.

"I'm sorry sir." Obi-Wan panted out and winced as the man swung his foot viciously into the youth's side.

"Watch it slave, or else I'll report your behaviour to your master." The man snarled and continued on his way, not noticing the way that the boy had blanched and started trembling at the use of the word 'master'. 

"Y-yes sir." Obi-Wan stuttered and waited until the man had turned the corner before shakily continuing his way. 

He received his master's tray from Kali and was on his way back home when he stumbled into another person. He fell and dropped the tray.

(Oh no. Caleb will not be happy. I'm going to be punished again. Again….) His head jerked up as a familiar voice rang in his ears.

"456!" Billy rushed to his aid and stopped surprised as Obi-Wan violently pulled back. "456, what's wrong?"

Obi-Wan's head was reeling at the turn of events. (NO! Billy couldn't have been captured! Caleb wouldn't have bought her! How the---) his thoughts were shattered as someone grabbed his arm and he was enveloped in a huge bear hug.

"Padawan!" The strange word was muffled as Obi-Wan struggled fiercely to get out of the strong embrace.

"Padawan?" Obi-Wan pulled out and stood panting as he looked up at his attacker. It was a tall, long brown haired man. His mind gave a twitch and made a half-hearted attempt to search through its memory banks. The young slave pushed the weird feeling out of his mind.

"456. It's me, Billy. Don't be afraid, it's ok." Obi-Wan looked up slowly and gasped at what he saw. It truly was Billy, but she changed. Changed for the better. The hollows from her cheeks were gone, they were tinged with a flush of pink. As she stood up, Obi-Wan allowed his eyes to rove over her, taking in the changes. She was good deal fatter. Not fat but not skinny. She was exactly what a normal person should look like. Whoever she was with, she was getting regular meals. Her hair had grown longer and hung halfway down her back. The ends had bleached almost blond and she had small plaits dangling in it. It was brushed neatly and Obi-Wan noticed for the first time that Billy had soft curls towards the bottom of her hair. He had never noticed that before because it had all been a heap of dreadlocks. Her skin glowed – not a speck of dirt could be seen on her. She even smelt slightly like flowers. Billy was beautiful. Stunningly beautiful.

Standing prtoectively next to her was a young man who looked eerily like him. (_Creepy_) The man was older then him and his eyes were opened slightly wider then normal as the man took in the boy. 

His reverie was interrupted by a elegant hand that stretched in his direction, "Let me help you up friend" Billy laughed but a frown quickly darkened her face as Obi-Wan scooted back, as far away as possible from the offending hand.

"456?"

(How can I tell them that I can't have anything to do with them, without speaking?) Obi-Wan desperately thought and shook his head, his eyes wide and showing white with his fear.

River watched, slightly jealous. (So this is the famous Obi-Wan Kenobi. I don't see anything to get highly excited about.) His thoughts were dark but he sighed and turned them around. (He means something to Qui-Gon Jinn; therefore he means something to me. Get over yourself River.)

Qui-Gon watched, his heart slowly ripping apart. His Padawan was a trembling ball of fear. He looked closer and tightened his teeth in anger. Anger which he quickly released into the Force so that it could not consume him and disrupt his thoughts. So he told himself. The boy was so thin that he could easily see every single rib and vertebrate as the boy cowered beneath him. 

Billy knelt down and placed her hand on the young boy's trembling shoulder. "456, please, we don't mean to—"

"NO! Don't TOUCH ME!" The words erupted from the young slaves mouth before he realised what he'd said and he pushed himself away from the girl. Obi-Wan heart clenched then tightened. So he'd crossed the line. (Caleb can't punish me any worse then he has already done) 

Obi-Wan spoke quickly, "Billy, what are you doing here? No don't answer that. I don't have much time. Do not speak to me. Do not touch me, you must not communicate with me in any way. Verbally, physically or mentally." Obi-Wan rolled his eyes at the last word. (As if you can do that.)

"Why?" Billy asked confused.

"Because my master will get mad at me." Obi-Wan replied simply.

Qui-Gon felt his anger flare up as the boy used the title in such terrible way. Qui-Gon ruthlessly squashed it and knelt down beside the boy. "Obi-Wan……"

The boy looked at the older man puzzled, his mind reaching for some long distance memory but never quite getting there. "What? Who are you?" His eyes slowly devoured the man's face then switched back to Billy's face. "I am not afraid of what he will do to me, but I am afraid of what he will do to others around me in an attempt to control me. I must go now."

"No 456! You have to listen to what I have to say. I found out about your life!" Billy tried to excite the boy, without success. The boy remained depressed.

"I have no life." He dully said and tried to gather up the food. It was that moment that Caleb chose to enter the scene. 

"SLAVE!!" His voice thundered and Obi-Wan flinched violently beneath Billy's hand. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?? I am HUNGRY!"

"I'm sorry maste---" Obi-Wan only got so far when a vicious backhand sent him head over heels.

"Punctuality is a necessity! Now, my food is cold!" The man's eyes hardened as he noticed the group around his slave, "Slave, you know the rules. Have you been talking to this group?"

Obi-Wan got back up to his knees and surreptiously wiped away a smear of blood from his bleeding lip, "Y-yes master."

"Go back to your room. I will deal with you presently." The man commanded and watched with a grim face as the young boy slunk away. He turned to the shocked onlookers, "I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you to refrain from speaking to that particular slave. He is on a rigorous training plan and he _was_ a stubborn one. I do not want him reverting to his old habits." He looked more closely at the group, his eyes looking carefully at Billy.

"My, she is a pretty one. I'm guessing that you're not willing to sell her?" His voice turned oily and Billy had to force herself not to squirm. 

"No, she is not for sale." Qui-Gon's voice was hard, "Go easy on the slave. It was my fault. I talked to him."

Caleb nodded, "I will take that into consideration but he knows the rules." He turned and took the same path that the young Jedi had taken. 

When he was out of view, Qui-Gon turned to River and said wearily, "I couldn't sense him. I couldn't sense him at all River. His signature has been completely dimmed. Even when he stumbled into me, I didn't feel him. What does that mean?"

River sighed, "Does it really _matter??_ Lets just concentrate on getting him out of here. What is it that you always say? Focus on here and now? Well, I think that now would be a good time for you to follow your own preachings, wouldn't you say?"

Qui-Gon looked up with weary resignation, "You know, I wish that Obi-Wan would pay the same attention that you do to me! But yes, you are right. Lets just work on getting him out of here."


	23. As the images unwind

**Amy:** I don't really know Mace apart from what I've read in other fanfics. Thats why he doesn't feature much!

**Anna:** Did it work? Did it? Huh? HUH?!? I'm dying to know!! Did you manage to read it?

**bored2death:** Ahh, but can you save someone who has given up? How can you force someone to live when they want to die?

**culf:** I'm afriad that Obi isn't as flexible as he used to be.

**sethoz:** Yay! I get to join the cool "Kill Caleb" club! Who wants in?? [crickets heard chirping, sound of insect spray, no more cricket sounds]. Eh, I'm over Danny now but everytime he gets shot or left behind or taken hostage or trips over i just crack up laughing. He IS the whipping boy of the universe!!

**Just a useless question, but _what_ would you do if you came across a naked Obi-Wan dying of thirst in the desert? *winks* Also, just letting you know, I don't like Ewan McGregor. I'm going to get shot for saying this but i think he sings like a gaybo! [Roz is felled by a sniper]. Fan: Take that bitch!**

** Ah, getting closer and closer to the end!**

**** 

_Picture hanging in a hallway_

And a fragment of this song

Half remembered names and faces

But to whom do they belong?

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

Obi-Wan opened his eyes and groaned softly. (No matter what I do, I seem to find myself in these types of situations way too many times.) He didn't have to strength to look around and besides, that would've hurt way too much. 

As Obi-Wan had thought, Caleb had _not_ been happy. He had shown his displeasure in the boy quite dramatically.

He had beaten the boy until he had passed out. 

Obi-Wan still hung from his bonds, from the ceiling. His feet barely touched the floor and his arms creaked with the strain. As he hung there waiting for his master to return and reprimand him some more he thought about the strange turn of events.

(So Billy has a new master. Not good. But she seems to be happy and healthy. Good. Billy did get away. Good. But she got resold. Not good. I talked to Billy. Good. I got beaten. Not good. I'm still hanging from the ceiling. Not good. Another slave is going to die because of me. _Not_ good.) Obi-Wan bowed his head and his breathing went from heavy to shallow. (It's my fault. It would be better for everyone concerned if I just died.). 

Caleb entered and watched the boy with speculative eyes. (He's coming along nicely.) "So, are you ready for the second half of the punishment?" He clicked his fingers and a guard dragged a terrified slave into the room.

"No……" Obi-Wan whispered through bruised lips, "I will……..do……..anything. S-stop it….."

Caleb snickered, "So now you are coming to realise the consequences of your actions. Yet you continue to flout the rules. You know the rules and therefore must receive the punishment." The guard pushed the slave roughly to the floor and the slave looked up at the boy with scared eyes.

It was Kali. She worked in the kitchen. She was the one that Obi-Wan saw daily for his master's food. They knew each other well. Well, as well as two tentative slaves could know each other. Although, they didn't say much – they were friends. She was the only friend that Obi-Wan had in the compound. And now she was going to executed, because of him. 

Caleb saw hopelessness enter the boy's eyes and his lips parted mirthlessly. "I know that you two have reached an understanding." He put his hand under the girl's chin and forced her to look up at him. Then turning her face away he whispered cruelly in her ear, "Look upon the face of the one that is to be the cause of your death. Because of this boy's stubbornness, you will die." He then forced the girl up onto her feet and shoved her face into Obi-Wan's battered one.

"Any last words to your friend slave?" Caleb snickered.

Obi-Wan tried to turn to face his master, "Master please!! Please don't! I didn't mean to! I swear I didn't. They started talking to me, I didn't want to reply but they forced me to. Please master, punish me but leave Kali out of it. This has nothing to do with her! I will willingly take the punishment but just leave her out! Please master! I will do _anything_!"

Caleb sighed with pleasure, "I do love it when I break a slave down to begging."

Obi-Wan's spirit didn't even twitch, it was well and truly dead. "Please master. I will do anything. I will do anything at all for you if you would spare this girl. Please….."

Caleb appeared to think over the decision, "Hmm. That is a very strong case that you put before me but I think I will……..continue." Out of nowhere a knife appeared in Caleb's hand and swiftly he cut the bond tethering the boy to the ceiling. Obi-Wan fell and caught himself hard on his knees. He remained in prostate position, hoping to please his master.

He looked up, just in time to see Caleb plunge the knife deep into the girl's chest. 

The girl let out an inarticulate cry and collapsed to the ground. In a flash, Obi-Wan was at her side, cradling her head as the girl lived her last moments. Obi-Wan could only watch helplessly as the pulse beneath his fingers slowed and stopped. Kali's eyes remained open and unseeing, terror etched deeply into their irises. 

"No…" the boy murmured softly and stroked her hair. Caleb stepped back and let the knife clatter to the ground beside the boy.

"Let that be a lesson to you boy. You caused her death." With that last parting shot, he left the chamber.

Long after the corpse grew cold, Obi-Wan was still kneeling on the ground, sobbing softly into the girl's pale blond hair.

"I'm _so_ sorry…….."

**** 

Two days passed and Qui-Gon hadn't seen his apprentice. Then suddenly, Obi-Wan appeared.

He looked sick. Deathly sick. His skin was pale and he was starvation thin. His eyes were dull and lifeless and his walk was like a zombie. He didn't even try to lift his crippled feet but dragged them across the ground. Dark bags had appeared under his eyes and his cheeks had hollowed out, giving the boy a gaunt, almost skeleton face. He was dirty and yellow bruises mottled his face. His clothes were stiff, full of dirt, grime and dried blood. 

As Obi-Wan slowly turned the corner, Qui-Gon Jinn stared in horror at his retreating apprentice's back. His tunic hung in tatters and his back was a mess of black and red blood. Some of the welts were badly infected and highly inflamed. 

They would've caused terrible pain but Obi-Wan Kenobi was too far gone to care. His body operated on automatic; his brain had gone into shock and shutdown. Soon his body was going to follow suit and shutdown.

In two days, his stomach wouldn't take any food and his lungs had developed a racking cough. He was continuously coughing and retching alternatively. His body was dying from within.

Even as Qui-Gon watched the boy stumbled and fell, his body heaving as it convulsed, trying to rid itself of any imaginary substances. Obi-Wan dry retched and coughed as black bile rose up his throat.

Qui-Gon was about to rush over and help his Padawan when Caleb appeared, striding quickly to the boy. He stopped as he drew level and smartly kicked the heaving boy. As Qui-Gon's anger increased the man grabbed Obi-Wan by his hair and shook him viciously. He then dropped the boy back onto the ground, as if he repulsed him and made to stride away but was stopped as the older Jedi skidded into his path.

Caleb stopped surprised, "Yes friend?"

Qui-Gon nodded down at his apprentice below him, "I want to buy him."

Caleb raised his eyebrows (So very blunt!), "I'm afraid that he is not for sale. Although……"

(An opening!) "Yes Caleb? What do you wish for in return?"

"Your young, girl slave would do nicely," Caleb countered, thinking over the profit and loss margins that he would encounter with such a decision. The young Jedi was dying, Caleb could see that. To get a pretty, healthy, young slave by trading in Obi-Wan was a good deal by any accounts.

Qui-Gon closed his eyes as he heard the offer. (I can't do that! It goes against the Jedi code. Oh no, I _can't_ do that. I would've given anything else in the world but I can't give that………) "I'm afraid that I cannot sell her." He said his voice thick with remorse.

"Then the deal is off." Caleb made to move off but was stopped as Qui-Gon grabbed his arm.

"I will pay anything that you want!"

Caleb's eyebrows rose even higher, "Unless I get your slave, no amount of money could bribe me into selling that particular slave."

Qui-Gon was getting desperate, "You will sell me the slave." He added a heavy amount of Force control behind the command and waved his hand slightly.

Caleb chuckled, "You'd think you were a Jedi the way that you wave your hand. I will not sell him to you."

Qui-Gon cursed, (Goddamn natural barriers!!)"But he is dying, what will you do with him?"

Caleb nodded sadly, "Yes, he is dying but I have accomplished what I set out to do so I am happy. Tonight I will personally put him down."

"Put him down?"

"Yes. He was my pet. After breaking him, there is no fun in keeping him so I will just execute him. Good day friend." Caleb wrenched his arm away and strode down the hall, Obi-Wan trailing forlornly in his wake.

"Tonight, we get you out of here." Qui-Gon promised and ran swiftly back down the hall, to his room where River and Billy waited.

**** 

River cracked his knuckles and Billy stared anxiously at the wall.

"That is the _only_ plan that you can come up with Qui-Gon?" River demanded amazed. "After all, you are a Jedi."

"We do not have time! That monster is going to murder my apprentice tonight! We will get him out of here. I promised."

Billy sighed, "Yes, I promised too."

Qui-Gon glanced at the girl in amazement (I will not tell her about Caleb's offer. She would definitely not agree with what happened.) "That's right. You also made a promise, didn't you?"

"Yes, when I was on the ship. After 456, I mean, Obi-Wan forced me off. I promised that I would get him, and I will keep it."

"See River? Billy agrees with the plan!"

"I did not say I agree with it; it is suicidal but I will do it because I will keep my promise."

River rolled his eyes and sighed deeply, "Well, you saved my life Qui-Gon therefore I will follow what you say." He continued before Qui-Gon could interrupt, "As a free man, I will gladly follow you."

"Right, let's go." Qui-Gon briskly commanded and led the way out the door.

**** 

(Well, this is definitely a change from the normal torture routine.) Obi-Wan thought dimly while watching the ground blur beneath him as the shoulder he was on moved rapidly over the ground.

Things had happened very quickly indeed. Obi-Wan had been kneeling in his normal position, waiting without any emotions for his master to come home when Billy and her strange group had burst in through the door, grabbed him and left.

At the moment, he was on some boy's shoulder and they were running rapidly through the forest. The shrill whine of blaster bolts filled the boy's ears as he hung limply, not caring if he lived or died.

Qui-Gon glanced around while methodically returning bolts. River was over there, firing his blaster and he had Obi-Wan slung over his shoulder. He was also covering Billy who cowered behind River. Billy wasn't armed.

Things were going to plan. They had gone to Caleb's main chamber, overridden the security devices, entered, grabbed Obi-Wan and left. The element of surprise had given them about fifteen minutes head start. Luckily, Caleb had not been in his chamber when they had grabbed the boy and although he had sounded the alarm he was nowhere to be seen. 

(Maybe he got scared and ran away?) Qui-Gon's mind offered an explanation, as his body was kept busy dodging and rebounding the blaster bolts. 

Night had fallen and the forest was spasmodically lit as the guards fired their blasters. The light from each bolt cast strange shadows and made seeing incredibly hard. Qui-Gon could only hope that River had great eyesight.

The fight was reaching it's maximum when the group stumbled into a large clearing. There was no way that they could out-run their pursuers; they would have to fight it out.

"FIGHT RIVER!!" Qui-Gon screamed as loud as his voice would let him and turned away, not catching the nod of acknowledgement from the young man.

"Here! Hold him!" River thrust the boy at Billy and Billy clumsily supported the boy. It had been because of his handicap that River had resorted to carrying him in the first place. "Keep down!" He hissed and turned his blaster onto the guards.

Obi-Wan's dull eyes lit up as he recognised Billy as the person that held him, "B-billy…." His mouth slurred the words as it struggled to work after being out of use for so long. "B-Billy, what are you doing? What are you doing here? Who are they? Were you recaptured? What's going on?"

Billy grinned with relief, maybe Obi-Wan wasn't too far gone, "It's a long story. I'll explain it later ok? Let's just say that they're the good guys." She pointed at River and Qui-Gon. Qui-Gon's 'saber was just a blur of light as it curved through the air.

"What's that?" Obi-Wan clumsily pointed at Qui-Gon's lightsaber, letting his curiosity get the better of him.

"Uhm, I'll tell you later! For the moment, we just got to keep out of harms way ok?"

"Sure, whatever you say Billy." Obi-Wan's eyes devoured the scene in front of him, his mind starting to function properly once again. (Is it possible that I am going to get out of here? Away from Caleb? With Billy?)

He noticed that the fight was slowing down and stood up unsteadily. Billy stood up, just to lend a hand for support when it happened.

Caleb stepped out of the bushed directly opposite the pair, aimed his blaster at Billy and fired.

**** 

** Sorry, another cliffy huh?**


	24. Like the circles that you find

**Amy:** Sorry, but you must learn the virtue of patience! As the author i would suggest that you meditate on this! (Obi-Wan and Amy-san conspire together how to chuck Roz off a cliff). [_**Obi**: Patience training my arse!_]

**Moi:** Thanks for your concern! Families fine at the moment, i guess time will tell if we get out unscathed.

**Culf:** You too need to learn patience my child!! [_**Culf**: Muttermutterstupidauthormuttermutter. Grumblegrumblewhodoesshethinksheisgrumblegrumble? **Roz**: What? **Culf**: *innocent grin showing canines* Nothing!_] Do you still want a story or did you just want the position of 100th reviewer?

**Remnants:** Sorry, i forgot to answer your review! I actually thought that you were one of the people that i'd lost 1/2way through the story. It's nice to know you're still there! *blushes* Surely, my story isn't that good. I do not think so! Thanks for your concern about my family. I'm sure they'll be fine.....hopefully! Anyway, keep reading and review if you want.

**Amber:** Aww, thanks! *blushes even harder* No, there is NO WAY that i'm a professional!! I'd like to get some of my stuff published but that'll never happen! Caleb is so believable he makes me feel sick.

**And now the ending that everyone has been waiting for! After reading your reviews and considering the options I went ahead with what i already had planned. Enjoy.**

**** 

_When you knew that it was over_

Were you suddenly aware

That the autumn leaves were turning

To the colour of his hair?

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

No one had noticed him yet and there was nothing anyone could do to stop him.

The bolt erupted from the blaster just as Obi-Wan shoved Billy out of the way. 

Time slowed down.

Obi-Wan could see everything. He could see the air parting as the bold slid past, he could see the Caleb's expression, he could feel Billy on the ground beside him, he could feel the wind in his hair, he could hear his clothes flapping in it. He could hear the quiet chorus of birds in the air above him and in the trees around him. He could hear the scream of the blaster bolt, the hum of the lightsaber as it cut through the frigid air. He could hear Billy's screams and River's yells. He felt, rather then saw, the strange, tall man face him. He could sense fear heavy in the air. 

(Fear? Fear for me. Why? I don't know him). The bolt was closer now, he could see the minute energy lines racing across it, he could see the Caleb's triumphant sneer.

(I'm going to die………..and I don't care).

He looked down at Billy, whose hand was reaching for him. Slowly – too slowly. Obi-Wan smiled gently at the desperately futile gesture and turned his head towards the heavens. (The stars look more beautiful then ever ton----)

Time returned to its normal pace.

There was a thud. 

**** 

Qui-Gon was at the rear of the party, reflecting the dozens of blaster bolts aimed at them. His lightsaber was just a blur of green as it scorched through the air at an incredible speed, returning the blots to its senders. Many of them accurately hit their senders, bringing them down. 

The older man allowed himself a small smile, despite the apparent desperate circumstances. The guards were falling freely now, the ones left standing were having their confidence and courage ripped to shreds. The fight would be over soon. The bolts were already slowing down and Qui-Gon's speed went from frenzy to almost relaxed. 

They would be out of here soon. Very soon, all four of them would be on a ship heading towards _safe_ Coruscant. Finally, him and Obi-Wan would be able to sit down and talk. It still hurt Qui-Gon to know that Obi-Wan had no idea who he was but maybe over time his memory would slowly return. Who knows? (The force works in mysterious ways) Qui-Gon reminded himself while almost lazily deflecting a blaster bolt to hit its sender 10 metres away. 

The fight was over. The last couple of men had seen the power of the Jedi and hadn't liked what they saw. They bravely sent a couple of blaster bolts as a farewell present, then retreated. Qui-Gon with his hearing at maximum could hear the whine of swoop bikes being accelerated away as hard and as fast as possible. He allowed himself a wide smile and deactivated his lightsaber. The blade was halfway down when the Force started screaming. 

Time slowed. 

Caleb stepped out of the bushes and pointed the blaster straight at Billy. In a split second, Qui-Gon realised that the man must have been quietly stalking them the whole time. Qui-Gon could see his finger tighten on the trigger and in a split second he re-activated his lightsaber. 

But he was too late.

Just as the man pulled the trigger and the blast bolt had begun it's deadly journey, Qui-Gon's lightsaber had fully ignited but he was too far away. He watched helplessly as the bolt inched it's way to Billy. Suddenly, it wasn't Billy who was in the way – it was Obi-Wan. 

(NO! Oh Force!! _Please_ NO!)

Qui-Gon's emotions ran rampant with fear taking the lead. Obi-Wan had shoved Billy out of the way. And there was nothing he could do to save his apprentice. River was also too far away and Billy and Obi-Wan were unarmed. 

He saw Obi-Wan give Billy a smile and then time returned to it's normal pace.

Suddenly, Obi-Wan was lying crumpled on the ground. 

**** 

River gave a snarl and in a split second Caleb was lying dead with a blaster wound through his abdomen. 

Billy was in hysterics, desperately trying to shake Obi-Wan back into life. River swiftly ran to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders in an effort to calm her down, and to stop her from injuring the young boy further. He could feel her shoulders shaking with each sob that racked her small body and he tightened his warm embrace around her. 

Qui-Gon had watched the scene with horror, his body immobilised with the drastic change of events in such a small time. His senses rushed back into him and sprinted to the group, dropping to his knees beside the small body lying on the ground. 

"No! This can't be happening. Obi-Wan, you can't be, you just can't be….." Qui-Gon could not force himself to utter the dreaded word. He placed his trembling hands just above the blaster wound and frantically tried to heal him. 

Even as he tried he knew it was hopeless. Obi-Wan was dying, and dying rapidly. His life force was depleting swiftly and the energy that Qui-Gon poured into his Padawan's body just drained back out. The blaster bolt had smashed its way through the boy's delicate ribcage, disintegrating bone, burning away muscle and tissue and collapsing the boy's lungs. 

Obi-Wan wasn't breathing, there was no way that he could. The boy's face was deathly pale, almost translucent. Qui-Gon could feel the thread that held the boy alive, dwindling and waning. The blood flowing from his open wound was slowing down, nearly stopping.

(Dead men don't bleed). Qui-Gon could feel each beat of Obi-Wan's heart, and they were becoming slower, fainter and more irregular. 

Qui-Gon was helplessly begging, his hands trying to stem the flow of blood, trying frantically to heal, trying to do _anything_. "No. Obi-Wan you can't go. You can't leave! I just found you, you have no idea what would happen to me if you left. I won't lose you, I can't lose you. I can't lose you after all this time, I just found you. Don't go, please, _don't go_." 

The older man pleaded, knowing that it was no use. "It's my fault. It's my entire fault. I never told you how much I loved you, I never told you how proud I was of you. I'm just a foolish old man Obi-Wan. I love you Obi-Wan Kenobi. _**I love you!**_. If you leave like this, it will destroy me.

You will be a great Jedi, and I will be there to present you at the ceremony. I will cut your braid off and present you with it. You will become a fantastic Knight and even a greater Master. 

If it wasn't for you, I'd probably be dead. You saved me after Xanatos. I said I'd never trust again, but you helped me trust. I love you Obi-Wan. You are my son and I love you. Please don't go, don't leave me." Qui-Gon laid his head on Obi-Wan's chest. Qui-Gon's eyes were overflowing with tears and the salty liquid mixed freely with Obi-Wan's lifeblood as it ran. 

River hugged Billy closer as she flailed to try and get closer to her dying friend. "Obi-Wan Kenobi! I made a promise and you are NOT going to make me break it!! Don't make me break it. Don't force me to break it. Don't make..me.....break.....it!"

River's eyes were misting up and fat tears were rolling down his cheeks as he watched the scene from the outside. He was the outsider and although he had only known Obi-Wan personally for around 5 days, the boy had gotten to him. (He means the world to Qui-Gon, this will destroy him). But there was nothing he could do. There was nothing that any of them could do. 

The boy was dying and no one could save him. 

**** 

Obi-Wan's mind was reeling. He knew he was dying, he could feel his body shutting down. His lungs were on fire but the pain was slowly receding with every passing second. (So, _this_ is dying.) His body was trying to sustain itself; it was doing everything it could to keep the boy alive. 

His total respiratory and digestive system collapsed. Obi-Wan gave a slight twitch as the pain struck him. His nervous system followed suit and all nerves shutdown. His body was silent, there was no pain. His body frantically searched for other switches to turn off, to conserve power. Everything internal shutdown and lastly Obi-Wan's body turned to his mind. All natural shields came crashing down and suddenly Obi-Wan knew.

Obi-Wan knew who he was. 

Memories washed over him, consuming him in his last precious seconds of life. The wall that had been keeping his memories apart had collapsed.

Obi-Wan's complete life flashed past. 

He saw himself as a child, his mother and father surrounding him. For some reason they were fuzzy, only thing distinct about them was their shape – denoting that they were human. He saw his brother…..Owen. He had a brother. His name was Owen. He saw himself being taken to a big building. The Temple. In Coruscant. Coruscant was a complete city. The whole planet was a city. It was big. He remembered being scared, being homesick. He remembered missing his family but that feeling faded. The temple was his home and the teachers his family. He remembered being taught. Taught to be a Jedi. Peace over anger. Honour over hate. Strength over fear. The Dark Side and the Light Side. Do or do not, there is no try. The Force. He wanted to be a Jedi. A Jedi Padawan. He remembered being teased by Bruck. Oafy-Wan. He felt pain, humiliation and fear. Fear? Fear of rejection, fear of not accomplishing his dream. 13th Birthday – dreaded. He remembered being sent to Agri-corps aboard the ship called………_Monument_. He had been beaten by a…….Hutt. Xanatos……..slavery. Xanatos had made him a slave. He had been a slave before. He remembered a tall man. Long brown hair. A face devoid of emotion. Bandomeer – the man had accepted him. The man was called….Qui-Gon Jinn. Teacher. Mentor. Father. He had given him a rock. From the River Of Light. He had friends at the Temple. Bant, Garen, Reeft. They had gone to Phindar. He had been captured, memory erased. 

Obi-Wans more recent life flashed past.

Billy and slavery. Starvation and malnutrition. Beatings. Escape, juanks. Interrogation – pain. Intense pain. Caleb. Humiliation, mental anguish. Ankles, crippled. Sands and dehydration. Hope crumbling. Giving up. Dying from within. Master returned – saved. Escape, forest, guards, shooting, fighting, shot. Dying.

Which brought him to where he was now. Dying. 

Obi-Wan tried to open his eyes. It was taking immense effort, but he had look upon the face of his master, his father, before he died. Even though it was half blocked by a head, the light that shown into the boy's pupils was too bright. His body didn't have the energy to compensate and Obi-Wan's eyes remained hugely dilated. The head that was blocking his view of the stars was Qui-Gons and the boy could tell that something was bothering him. 

(Of course something's bothering him, I'm dying aren't I?)

Obi-Wan allowed himself a mental smile and with a trembling arm lifted his hand up and gently touched the older man's tear-stained face. 

Qui-Gon started and stared into Obi-Wan's face. The boy's eyes were focused on him but they were rapidly becoming glazed and hazy. 

"Obi-Wan! Stay with me! Stay with me!" Qui-Gon frantically grabbed the boy's smaller hand and gave it a squeeze, willing Obi-Wan to squeeze it back. 

(Sorry master. But I can't stay. Too tired….)Obi-Wan's thoughts trailed off as he concentrated fiercely, gathering all his remaining energy for his last moments. He forced his mouth to speak, his jaw feeling leaden and his tongue unresponsive. 

"I-I know you." His voice was breathless and soft, Qui-Gon had to lean forward to hear it.

"Obi-Wan! Save your strength! You'll need it for the healing process! Don't talk, just save your stre----" Qui-Gon was cut off.

"N-need to! N-n-need to tell you. I-I remember you. I r-r-remember……everything. Y-you…..are m-my…..master. M-master Qui-Gon J-jinn." Obi-Wan spoke haltingly and watched his master's face. Qui-Gon's face crumpled and more tears rolled down his face as Obi-Wan spoke his name. He didn't speak it like a foreign word, but spoke it naturally – as if he knew it all his life. 

"Oh, Obi-W---" Qui-Gon was once again interrupted by the soft squeeze on his hand.

"I-I-I……know who I a-a-am." He slowly turned his head to look at Billy's teary face, "I…..a-am Obi-Wan Kenobi, P-Padawan…..to M-master Q-Qui-Gon Jinn. M-mentor…….teacher…….a-a-and father." Obi-Wan turned back to Qui-Gon, his strength failing with each passing second. 

He had one last thing to do. 

To conserve as much strength as possible he closed his eyes and relaxed. Qui-Gon became frantic, shouting his Padawan's name and squeezing the unresponsive hand, trying to receive a reaction, _any_ reaction.

(Concentrate, concentrate). Obi-Wan hadn't done this in over 10 months, but he _knew_ how. Now, he knew how. Ironically, now that he knew who he was and all his memories had returned, he was going to die. A smile slowly traced across his lips and although he was dying, he didn't feel sad. If anything, he felt happy. In fact, he felt the happiest he had been in the last 10 months. He had found his family, he had found his father, all his memories had returned and he knew who _he was_. Unfortunately, he was also dying but you had to take the good with the bad.

(You win some, you lose some.)

Obi-Wan gingerly touched the mental bond, long disused between Master and Padawan. Feeling his life-power weaken dramatically, he threw everything he had into this last task. 

Qui-Gon gasped as he felt Obi-Wan's aura flicker ominously once, then disappear completely. Simultaneously, he felt the boy access their long silent bond and send a single message before disappearing into the swirling, grey pool of limbo.

[_I love you_.]

Qui-Gon's face crumpled, "No! Obi-Wan!!!" He gathered the body up into his arms and cradled the boy's limp head against his chest.

For the first time since Xanatos the almighty Qui-Gon Jinn broke down and cried like a little child. 

**** 

_You know the happiest day of my life, _

I swear the happiest day of my life 

Was the day that I died.

Can you fel the cold tonight?

It sets in but it's all right,

Darkness falls I'm letting go.

All alone……

But I feel fine.

**- The Day That I Die (**Good Charlotte**)**


	25. In the windmills of your mind

**JESUS!! [Roz hides behind the desk as she reads some of the reviews] Calm down Culf! Life isn't a happy story all the time!**

** Where are all the optimists out there? I thought you'd know me better then that!! Only 3 people realised certain things. From the way i write I would've thought that you'd know that i wouldn't bring Mace in just to have him disappear - whats the point of that? And the chapter titles! If you payed attention to the song! (you know, the one thats everywhere on my story!) you'd realise that its missing the very last lyrics! The very last line! (The Windmills Of You Mind)**

Although, to tell the truth i was considering leaving him dead but that would destory Qui-Gon and break apart the whole little family.

Then why did i do it? Obi-Wan's got to regain his memory somehow doesn't he? As Qui-Gon thought, (The Force works in mysterious ways!**)**

And finally, the real conclusion!

**** 

_Like a circle in a spiral_

Like a wheel within a wheel

Never ending or begninng

On an ever spinning wheel

As the images unwind

Like the circles that you find

In the windmills of your mind

** - The Windmills Of Your Mind**

**** 

Obi-Wan opened his eyes and blearily looked around him. His questing hands struck something and he stared in amazement as his hands felt the cold, cool surface of a bacta tank. 

(Hang on……I was dying. I know I was dying. What am I doing here?)

Qui-Gon hadn't moved since his Padawan had been placed in the bacta tank and started as his apprentice stirred from his coma and opened his aquamarine eyes. He rushed over to the tank and frantically pressed a button calling for the healers.

"Obi-Wan! Obi-Wan, can you hear me?"

The figure that had pressed its hand up against the glass was blurred but recognisable. 

[_Master!_] Obi-Wan cried out through his bond as all the memories came rushing back. 

The next five minutes were a confusing jumble of healers, IV drips, bedding, tests and medication. As Obi-Wan was stretched out on a bed, his mind tried to come up with the missing link. After he had thought about it for another 5 minutes he sought out his master's help.

"Master? I was dying back on that planet. How did I get here?" Obi-Wan finally asked the question that had been bothering him for some time.

Qui-Gon laughed and lovingly ran his hand through his Padawan's coppery hair. "For that question you should ask Master Mace."

"Master Mace?" Obi-Wan's eyes spelled out his confusion, "What does he have to do with it?"

Qui-Gon sighed and closed his eyes, "Everything my young apprentice. Everything. You were right; you were dying. There was nothing that any of us could do. The blaster wound was mortal and your body was shutting down. That would have to be the worst time that I've ever encountered in my life. Don't you _ever_ do that to me again!" Qui-Gon's eyes were unusually emotional and he looked at his apprentice.

Obi-Wan hung his head, "I'm sorry master. I wasn't thinking. I should've—" The boy was cut off as Qui-Gon placed his hand under the boy's chin and forced him to look into his eyes. 

"I missed you so much Padawan. I didn't realise how much you meant to me until I nearly lost you. I love you too." He pulled the boy into a gentle hug, careful of the wound still healing in his chest. 

Obi-Wan was loathe to pull away but eventually he did, his tears smeared on Qui-Gon's robe. "But how did we get on this ship? I know that I was dying….." He got back to the original question. 

"Ah. You have a good memory!" Qui-Gon quipped ruffling the boy's hair. He got up and spoke into the intercom asking Mace to come down. Two minutes later the man in question was sitting with them.

"Tell the boy your little part in the story!" Qui-Gon moved over to Obi-Wan and placed his arm paternally around the fragile boy.

The dark-skinned human smiled at the young boy nestled in Master Jinn's robes. (Jeez, they've both been through a rough time...)

"Well, Master Yoda awoke from meditation and told me get on a ship and go to this planet. Rather strange at the time. It was a fair amount away and took me ages to get there. As I went the Force urged me to go faster and when I breached the planet's atmosphere it was virtually screaming at me to move my arse. I was almost too late. It told me to land in the clearing where you were, but I didn't realise you were there until I had landed. There is no such thing as luck, but if there was I'd say that you're the luckiest person alive Padawan Kenobi. By the time the healers reached you, you had been clinically dead for five minutes. The healers managed keep a hold on your life-force. Qui-Gon, River and Billy were complete messes and it was only the miracle of the healers that saved you.

Apparently, the actual death experience broke down all your natural shields and released all your memories. You had a complete memory recall and your memory is restored. In fact, the only thing that you're suffering from now is malnutrition and various cuts and bruises." Mace smiled warmly at the apprentice snuggled into Qui-Gons side.

At the word 'cut' Obi-Wan withdrew slowly and turned with dreaded eyes to Mace. "M-Master Mace, when you found me………was I…..c-c-crippled?" Obi-Wan didn't want to ask. If he was still crippled, then the chance of becoming a Jedi were virtually nil. He would be sent back to Agri-Corps. 

"Ah yes. You had many various injuries." At this Mace and Qui-Gon's eyes darkened imperceptibly, "But they were all repairable. Fear not Obi-Wan. In two days time, your legs will be as good as new. In a weeks time it will seem as if nothing has happened to you. I will now leave you, so that that you and your master can finally spend some bonding time." Mace stood up and took his leave.

Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan were left sitting in a comfortably silence. Finally Obi-Wan spoke:

"How is Billy and who is River?"

"Billy is fine, she was worried about you. And River….well, River is what you would call a 'pathetic life-form'." Qui-Gon laughed. "I picked him up at a slave auction. In fact, River and Billy are getting along _quite_ well."

"Really?" Obi-Wan stifled a feeling of disappointment and jealously, quite the same as River's to Obi-Wan. "That's good."

"Yes it is my apprentice. And it is good for you to finally be home." Qui-Gon kissed the boy lightly on the head. "Do you want to talk to Billy?"

"Uh…" Obi-Wan was caught undecided, "She'll fuss all over me, and then tell me off. I think I can wait till later!"

Qui-Gon hugged the boy closer, "I have missed you so much."

"And I have missed you too master." Obi-Wan's grip on Qui-Gon tightened and tears threatened to spill over.

Qui-Gon tilted the boy's head back, surprised by the sudden outburst of emotion emanating through their bond. [_Are you okay Obi-Wan?_]

The young Jedi smiled and snuggled in closer, [_I will be now that I'm home and you're here_.]

Master and Padawan remained in the same position for hours and the love flowed freely through the room. 

Obi-Wan Kenobi had returned home and found that he did, indeed have a family.

**The End**

**** 

** Finally! Completely! Finished!!!!!! So the final verdict? Out of 10? C'mon, give me one last review! Tell me what you liked and what you hated about this story!!**

Thankyou for all your time and reviews!!

I LOVE ALL YOU GUYS!!!


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